Chinese Senior Research Articles

A Mixed-Methods Approach to Students’ Engagement in English Learning in the Chinese Context

Since language use is at the center of language learning, learners’ active engagement in learning activities is crucial for successful language learning. Answering the call for positive language education, the present study investigated the levels and influencing factors of engagement in English learning among 437 Chinese senior high school students. This study employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, collecting data through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that students were generally well-engaged in English learning. Moreover, students were more inclined to engage in English learning behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively. Students’ agentic engagement in English learning was relatively low and mainly reflected after English classes. The relatively low agentic engagement might be shaped by a series of personal and contextual factors, including the traditional Chinese concept of “honoring and respecting the teacher”, teachers’ teaching strategies, students’ learning strategies, English proficiency, learning climate, and teaching styles. Pedagogical implications for English teachers concerning enhancing students’ English learning engagement were provided.

An Analysis of the Changes in the Representation of Scientific Methods in Laboratory Work in Chinese Senior High School Chemistry Textbooks

An Analysis of the Changes in the Representation of Scientific Methods in Laboratory Work in Chinese Senior High School Chemistry Textbooks

Navigating the emotional landscape: Insights into resilience, engagement, and burnout among Chinese High School English as a Foreign Language Learners

To explore the relationship between resilience, engagement, and burnout among Chinese senior high school students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), this study delves into relatively lesser-examined aversive emotions in language education. It sheds light on how these learners experience and manage these emotions in the in the Chinese senior high school EFL education context. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study acknowledges the spectrum of emotional experiences in language learning, ranging from positive states like engagement to negative states like burnout and disengagement. The rationale for combining these three variables—burnout, resilience, and engagement—lies in their interconnected nature in the emotional landscape of language learning. Through semi-structured interviews with 25 senior high school students and subsequent analysis using MAXQDA software, this study uncovers how learning environment factors, course content, teacher-student interactions, and individual motivations significantly influence these emotional states. This study not only advances our understanding of the emotional dynamics of senior high school EFL learners, but also offers practical insights for educators and policymakers, which may contribute to a comprehensive exploration of how resilience, engagement, and burnout shape the learning experiences of Chinese senior high school EFL learners.

How burnout, resilience, and engagement interplay among EFL learners? A mixed-methods investigation in the Chinese senior high school context

English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learning is essential for Chinese senior high school students, but burnout can impair their engagement and performance. Resilience, however, can enhance their engagement and shield them from burnout. This mixed-methods study aimed to investigate the interplay between burnout, resilience, and engagement among 413 Chinese senior high school EFL learners. Using AMOS 24, quantitative analyses with structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed the reciprocity between these three constructs. Specifically, burnout was negatively associated with both resilience and engagement, explaining 28.6% and 33.3% of their shared variance respectively. Besides, resilience and engagement were positively correlated, sharing 70.6% of their variance. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 15 students, analyzed by MAXQDA 2022, supported this reciprocity by specifying the role of each component of these constructs. This study also discusses the theoretical and practical implications of findings and suggests directions for future research.

A Corpus-based Study on Concessive Clauses Used in English Writing by Chinese Senior High School Students

This paper is designed to reveal the characteristics and figure out the errors in Chinese senior high students’ construction of concessive clause. The study uses data from Chinese Learner English Corpus (CLEC) and a collection of concessive clauses from 499 English compositions written by senior two students in a key public high school in Beijing. The result shows that the construction of concessive clauses exhibits certain characteristics: (1) employing a wide range of linking words, “although” being the most frequently used concessive conjunction, which differs from the use of linking words in St2 from CLEC; (2) having a tendency to place the subordinate clause before the matrix and to construct the concessive clause as “Subject + Linking Verb + Predicate”. Fifty-seven errors are identified in 132 concessive clauses, including: (1) errors of linking words; (2) the wrong matrix-subordinate clause relationship; (3) errors such as choosing the wrong linking words, inconsistent tense between the matrix and subordinate clauses, errors within the clauses, and incorrect use of punctuation. These errors are mainly influenced by the negative transfer from Chinese.

Unveiling Chinese senior high school EFL students' burnout and engagement: Profiles and antecedents

Burnout impairs English as a foreign language (EFL) learning, while engagement enhances it. However, most relevant studies have focused on college students, neglecting senior high school students. To address this gap, this mixed-methods study used two scales to assess the levels of burnout and engagement among 1234 Chinese senior high school EFL students. We also applied a person-centered approach with a statistical software (Mplus 8.7) to identify their latent profiles. Then, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 students and analyzed the data using thematic analysis with a qualitative software (MAXQDA 2022) to investigate the antecedents of their burnout and engagement. The statistical analysis revealed three profiles: high burnout-low engagement (16.0 %), moderate burnout-moderate engagement (61.8 %), and low burnout-high engagement (22.2 %). The profiles were associated with demographic characteristics such as gender, age, and grade. The thematic analysis identified four major antecedents: high academic stress and low academic support for burnout, and high external support and high internal support for engagement. Each major antecedent consisted of several categories and subcategories. This study could inform the design of effective interventions to reduce Chinese EFL students' burnout and increase their engagement.

Improving argumentation by teaching philosophy of science with critical questions in Chinese senior high school

ABSTRACT This study examines the use of critical questions (CQs) as an ‘explicit’ pedagogical method in the nature of science to teach Chinese high school students topics of philosophy of science (POS). The study results, evaluated through deductive thematic and qualitative comparative analyses using Toulmin’s argumentation patterns and a critical integrative argumentation model, revealed that students who participated in the POS course showed significant improvement in understanding and application of argumentation by asking CQs as suggested by instructors. This finding strongly supports the use of CQs for rebuttals in argumentation based on crisp qualitative comparative analysis. The study results have broad implications for how CQs can promote engagement in high school argumentation. The study conclusions highlight the limitations of oral questioning in classroom argumentation. Finally, the study discusses how POS can improve students’ classroom argumentation.

Positive emotions, self-regulatory capacity, and EFL performance in the Chinese senior high school context

Previous research on English as a foreign language (EFL) learning has predominantly focused on negative emotions such as anxiety and boredom, neglecting positive emotions. Self-regulation, a cognitive factor, has emerged as a key construct of positive psychology in recent years. However, few studies have examined the mechanisms by which positive emotions influence EFL performance, especially through cognitive factors. Given the high-stakes nature of Chinese college entrance examination and Chinese culture's value on effort, Chinese senior high school students may experience distinct EFL emotions. Therefore, this study, based on the control-value theory (CVT), explored the potential mediating role of self-regulatory capacity (boredom, awareness, goal, and emotion controls) in the relationship between the three focal positive emotions (enjoyment, hope, and pride) and EFL performance among Chinese senior high school students. A paper-and-pencil questionnaire survey was administered to 330 Chinese third-year senior high school students (male: n = 159; female: n = 171). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis with SPSS 26 and PROCESS V3.3. The results indicated that the students reported low levels of enjoyment and pride, moderate levels of hope, low levels of awareness, goal, and emotion controls, and moderate levels of boredom control. The results also revealed significant and large associations among the three positive emotions, the four components of self-regulatory capacity, and EFL performance. Furthermore, the results suggested that self-regulatory capacity partially mediated the effect of positive emotions on EFL performance, supporting the CVT framework. The study concluded with implications for educators and suggestions for future research.

Narrative analysis of seniors’ travel sharing: Self-shaping images and narrative patterns

Active ageing is a widely recognized notion that highlights seniors’ positive value and vitality, dissolving stereotypes by acknowledging heterogeneity. Currently, as an increasing number of senior visitors share trips, senior tourism has emerged as a practical means to foster a positive image of ageing. However, what images of ageing are conveyed and the process by which tourism stories are presented is unclear. To bridge the gap in seniors’ travel sharing, this study employed a narrative analysis method based on semistructured interviews with 49 Chinese senior visitors. Drawing upon selection, optimization, and compensation theory, the study identifies three narrative patterns: sliced-plain, staged, and introspective, and three image types: the plain immersion visitor, the active ageing image maker, and the relationship connector. By introducing seniors as research subjects, results revealed the logic and changing views of ageing behind seniors’ travel sharing. The understanding of heterogeneity and self-image construction among senior visitors was deepened. These findings also offer tourism destinations guidance on targeted marketing for senior visitors.

Chinese senior secondary students’ attitudes towards national, regional and foreign languages: the case of Chongqing

ABSTRACT This paper reports on language attitudes towards the national language (Putonghua), the regional dialect (Chongqing) and the key foreign language (English) of a group of senior high school students (N = 321) in Chongqing in mainland China. Unlike the numerous other studies of language attitudes in China this one is situated outside the more socially-economically developed east coast cities (such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong), focuses on high school students and uses an innovative multidimensional combination of direct and indirect measurements in order to measure and compare the dimensions of integrative/instrumental attitudes and overt/covert attitudes. The findings reveal clear and statistically significant differences in participants’ attitudes towards Chongqing dialect (their mother tongue), Putonghua (their national language) and English (their foreign language). These participants attach the highest integrative value to Chongqing dialect (followed by Putonghua then English) but the highest instrumental value to English (followed by Putonghua then Chongqing dialect). Their overt attitudes are more positive than their covert attitudes towards all three language varieties and there is generally more consistency in overt attitudes than in covert attitudes.

Influence of teacher autonomy support in feedback on high school students' feedback literacy: the multiple mediating effects of basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation.

This research presents and confirms an intermediary model, deeply anchored in self-determination theory, to dissect the influence of Chinese high school students' core psychological needs and intrinsic drive on the nexus between educators' autonomous backing and students' proficiency in feedback literacy, highlighting the mediating roles of these elements. A survey of 704 Chinese senior high school students, including 319 males and 385 females, employed the Feedback Literacy Scale, Basic Psychological Needs Scale, Intrinsic Motivation Scale, and Perceived Teacher Autonomy Support Scale. The study's discoveries illuminate that educators' autonomous support not only directly amplifies students' feedback literacy but also has an indirect impact through the intermediation of basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation, along with their interconnected dynamics. This inquiry not only deepens our grasp of the mechanisms interlinking teacher support with feedback literacy but also critically evaluates the findings to proffer targeted recommendations, thereby enhancing our comprehension of the underlying processes and guiding educational practices and student development.

An experimental study on the influence of healthy physical education curriculum model on sports ability of Chinese senior high school students.

In recent years, the growing incidence of health issues among Chinese students, including obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases, has been attributed to a sedentary lifestyle, lack of physical activity, and unhealthy eating habits. Physical education (PE) classes play a crucial role in promoting physical activity and fostering healthy lifestyles among Chinese students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the healthy PE curriculum model on the sports ability of senior high school students in China. The trial adopted a quasi-experimental design with equivalent groups. The experimental group followed the healthy PE curriculum model in their PE classes, while the control group received traditional technical instruction. During the 12-week intervention, 149 senior high school students completed the sports ability test as both the pre-test and post-test measurements for this experimental study. The results indicated that the experimental group showed significant improvements in sports ability compared to the control group, highlighting the positive effects of the healthy PE curriculum model. The structural characteristics of the healthy PE curriculum model provided essential support for students' learning and proved to be an effective way to promote physical literacy among senior high school students in China.

The Interference of Native Language on English Writing Syntax Errors of High School Students

This paper discusses the common syntactic errors in Chinese senior high school English writing, explores the causes of their English expression errors, and proposes a writing enhancement plan for senior high school students. Based on the theory of error analysis and the analysis of writing materials, this paper collects relevant data, analyzes the types of transfer errors and interference patterns in writing, and tries to explain the causes of interference syntactic errors in students’ English writing. Although the reasons for the negative transfer of senior high school students are complex and diverse, the efforts of teachers and students can still effectively avoid the formation of negative transfer of English thinking reduction. In English teaching, teachers should strengthen students’ syntactic discrimination ability and syntactic structure through comparative analysis, encourage students to overcome the interference of mother tongue thinking, and cultivate students’ English thinking ability.

A Survey of English Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Chinese Senior High Schools

A Survey of English Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Chinese Senior High Schools

The Relationship between Senior High School Students’ Foreign Language Learning Boredom and English Achievement

This study aims to examine how Foreign Language Learning Boredom (FLLB) is related to foreign language achievement of Chinese senior high school students in an English as a foreign language context. Informed by the control-value theory, the questionnaire of FLLB was administered to 128 senior high school Chinese students in grade one. Analysis of the questionnaire data and the final English exam scores shows that FLLB among senior high school students in China was at a medium level. Specifically, of the seven dimensions, the level of PowerPoint presentation boredom was the highest, while the level of Teacher-dislike boredom was the lowest; a negative correlation was found between students’ FLLB and English achievement. Of seven dimensions, foreign language classroom boredom, under-challenging task boredom, homework boredom, general learning trait boredom, and over-challenging or meaningless task boredom were significantly relevant to English final exam scores. Moreover, FLLB contributed significantly to the negative prediction of English test scores.

Problem-Based Learning—An Exploration of Student Engagement among Hong Kong Chinese Senior Secondary Students

Problem-Based Learning—An Exploration of Student Engagement among Hong Kong Chinese Senior Secondary Students

Investigating the Barriers to Electric Vehicle Adoption among Older Adults using Grey Relational Analysis: A Cross-country Survey

The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is a critical step towards the achievement of sustainable transportation, mitigated environmental challenges, and reduction in dependence on fossil fuels. In recent years, the popularity of EVs has grown, yet their adoption among seniors (older adults aged 50 and above) remains a challenge. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the barriers to EV adoption among seniors in two major economies, China and Russia. These two major economies have vast territories and significant transportation demands and as such they play crucial roles in the global shift towards EV adoption. We collected data from Russian and Chinese senior citizens using a comprehensive drafted questionnaire (252 respondents). Also, the Dynamic Grey Relational Analysis (DGRA) is used to analyze the quantitative data and rank the barriers to EV adoption. Our results suggest the inability of seniors to smartly locate available charging stations as the barrier to adopting EVs in China, while the lack of charging infrastructure at home is identified as the main barrier for seniors in Russia. Our findings provide valuable insights for manufacturers, technology firms, and policymakers, in the ongoing promotion of electric mobility.

Comparative study of the national identity education in senior high school English textbooks from Kyrgyzstan and China

Relevance\Purpose. This paper conducts a comparative quantitative analysis of senior high school English books in Kyrgyzstan and China from the perspective of national identity education. It analyses the information, design, symbolic characteristics, and proportion of national identity education in two versions of English textbooks.Methodology. The study used the textual analysis method and the comparative method.Results. The findings are as follows: English textbooks in Kyrgyzstan pay more attention to national identity and national knowledge system construction, relying on many country-specific themes. Meanwhile, English textbooks for Chinese senior high school focus more on the presentation of an authentic English language context in which the foreign culture proportion is greater than that of the Chinese culture. English textbooks in Kyrgyzstan tend to present Kyrgyzstan identity based on Russian and English languages. The textbooks include three language types to strengthen the consciousness of the Kyrgyzstan national knowledge system. English textbooks in China tend to present English language�speaking countries. The textbooks contain one language�English�and the Chinese language rarely appears on the cover pages.Conclusions. English textbooks in Kyrgyzstan tend to present Kyrgyzstan culture as part of the national identity construction. These textbooks pay more attention to translating local Kyrgyzstan culture and provide more vivid themes to stimulate comparisons between the Kyrgyz Republic and other countries. English textbooks in China tend to construct a multicultural knowledge system by presenting many common, daily topics of world culture and diversity.

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ON AGING IN THE COMMUNITY AND CULTURE AMONG CHINESE OLDER ADULTS

Abstract Chinese older adults face many barriers to healthy aging in community, such as increased financial burden, threatened place security, limited accessibility to medical services, language and transportation difficulties, daily housework and repairs challenges, etc. This systematic review aimed to examine and report the results current scholars have published in journal articles in the last decade (2010-present) on the influence of culture on Chinese older adults aging in community. Combination terms of “aging in community or aging in place,” “Chinese,” and “culture or cultural or ethnicity or identity or values” were used when searching in the four databases: CINAHL Complete; ERIC; MEDLINE; and PsycInfo. Researcher examined abstracts of all journal articles retrieved using the above criteria and further determined their relevance for inclusion. A total of 38 journal articles were included. Findings suggest that aging in community reflects a changing policy tendency from institution-based to community-centered care which better responds to the needs of the growing Chinese senior population. Family care remains older adults’ preferences. However, individual, community, and larger contextual factors can be influenced, such as the number of adult children in the household, education level, residential area, accessibility to healthcare facilities, perceived cultural values of filial piety, state-owned enterprise reformation, and the one-child policy in China. Policymakers are encouraged to promote older adults’ personalized care plans; comprehensive health insurance coverage; constructive social/community environments (e.g. community parks or community open spaces for age-friendly activities); home care support, or smart home technologies for regular health monitoring.

An Empirical Study on English Learning Motivation among Chinese Senior High School Students

<p style="text-align: justify;">Motivation research in foreign language learning is booming, and self-determination theory (SDT) has attracted wide attention. This study used mixed methods with 410 Chinese senior high school students as participants. The study aimed to answer the following three main questions: (1) What are the levels of Chinese senior high school students’ English learning motivation (ELM)? (2) Do the students’ ELM levels differ by gender? (3) What are the influencing factors of the students’ ELM? The following conclusions were drawn from the data analysis. First, the participants had a median level of ELM. Second, their ELM was more inclined towards self-determination. Third, girls’ levels of intrinsic regulation and identified regulation were significantly higher than those of boys. Fourth, anxiety and negative peer influence were two factors that contributed to a decline the students’ ELM. Cooperative learning and teacher support could improve students’ intrinsic learning motivation. The satisfaction of these three basic psychological needs promoted the internalization of external motivation. Based on the above findings, we offer the three following insights: it is crucial to maintain students’ autonomous ELM level; it is imperative to create a relaxed and positive classroom atmosphere; and teachers should try to meet students’ basic psychological needs.</p>