Chinese Primary School Research Articles

Authentic Assessment of Compulsory Subjects in Primary Schools: A Case Study in the Western Area of China

This article discusses a case study that explores the relationship between 21st century learning and curriculum alignment. It investigates three compulsory subjects: Chinese, mathematics, and English. By inquiring the survey on individual perspectives on curriculum content and authentic assessment in different schools within the scope of western Chinese primary schools, this article concluded that 21st century learning skills are well developed in primary schools. Although authentic assessment from parents’ perspective is diminutive, it is progressive for some students. Numerous factors can influence the actual practice of authentic assessment as teachers and pedagogies significantly contribute to students’ learning outcomes. The authentic assessment in China still has a long way to go in order to boost these learning skills to a higher level.

Innovation of Teaching Methods in Primary School Chinese Class under the New Curriculum Reform

Innovation of Teaching Methods in Primary School Chinese Class under the New Curriculum Reform

马来西亚华人新生代多语能力与家庭语言规划状况调查——基于两个个案的比较研究

Abstract Based on the correlation between the multilingual ability of new generation Malaysian Chinese and language awareness within ethnic Chinese families, this study selects two typical fifth grade students of a Malaysian Chinese primary school as research objects and analyzes the impact of language awareness in two different ethnic Chinese families on children’s language ability. Research by means of two-way questionnaires, in-depth interviews, text analyses of Chinese and English compositions and comparison of Chinese, Malay and English language results reveals outstanding Chinese language ability in Case A while Case B shows remarkable English language ability. The findings indicate that Malaysian Chinese generally possess trilingual advantages while the ability of each particular language varies from person to person, which in turn is profoundly influenced by family language planning and attitude. The paper evinces that cultural consciousness among ethnic Chinese and awareness of ethnic language continuity, as reflected in family language practices, are main factors enabling Malaysian Chinese to retain a high level of Chinese language ability in a society substantially dominated by Malay culture.

Teacher's Emotional Support and Math Performance: The Chain Mediating Effect of Academic Self-Efficacy and Math Behavioral Engagement.

Positive teacher-student interaction can exert a positive influence on student engagement and math performance. As an important part of teacher-student interaction, emotional support of a teacher plays an indispensable role in the math performance of junior middle school and elementary school students. This study aimed to explore the effects of teacher's emotional support on math performance, and examine the mediating role of academic self-efficacy and math behavioral engagement. A total of 1,294 students in grades 3–5 and 7–8 from 14 junior middle and primary schools in China took part in the web-based survey. Results showed the following: (1) academic self-efficacy mediated the relationship between teacher's emotional support and math performance of Chinese primary and middle school boys and girls; math behavioral engagement mediated the relationship between teacher's emotional support and math performance of Chinese primary and middle school boys and girls; (2) The relationship between teacher's emotional support and math performance of Chinese junior middle school boys and girls was mediated by the chain of academic self-efficacy and math behavioral engagement.

Indoor air quality in the primary school of China—results from CIEHS 2018 study

Indoor air quality ((IAQ) in classrooms was associated with the daily exposure of school-age children who are particularly vulnerable to air pollutants exposure, while few data exist to evaluate classroom indoor air quality nationwide in China. The subsample of the CIEHS 2018 study was performed in 66 classrooms of 22 primary schools nationwide in China. Temperature, relative humidity, PM2.5, PM10, CO2, CO, formaldehyde concentrations, bacteria and fungi were detected in all classrooms by using the instruments that meet the specified accuracy. The ratios of indoor to outdoor (I/O) of PM2.5 were calculated in each classroom to identify whether the indoor environment the pollutants comes from outdoors. The indoor PM2.5, PM10, CO, HCHO, bacteria and fungi GM concentration are 47.40 μg/m3, 72.91 μg/m3, 0.37 mg/m3, 0.02 mg/m3, 347.51 CFU/m3 and 362.76 CFU/m3, respectively. We observed that there were 66.5%, 52.6%, 22.4%, 1.8%, and 9.6% of the classrooms that exceeded the guideline values of PM2.5, PM10, CO2, HCHO, and bacteria, respectively. It should be attention that all of the classroom's PM2.5 concentrations in Shijiazhuang and Nanning, PM10 concentrations in Nanning, CO2 concentration in Lanzhou were exceeded the suggested values. Bacteria contamination in Shijiazhuang's classrooms is also serious. All classroom CO concentrations meet the requirement. The results indicated that classroom indoor PM2.5 was significantly positively correlated with indoor PM10 and CO2, while was negative correlated with temperature, CO, and fungi. Our results suggest that indoor air pollution in classrooms was a severe problem in Chinese primary schools. It is necessary to strengthen ventilation in the classroom to improve indoor air quality. What's more, a healthy learning environment should be created for primary school students.

Relationships with opposite-gender peers: the ‘fine line’ between an acceptable and unacceptable ‘liking’ amongst children in a Chinese rural primary school

ABSTRACT This article offers new empirical data examining how Chinese children construct their understandings of heterosexuality and opposite-gender relationships with school peers. Gender differences and separation between girls and boys are commonly argued to be a ‘gender rule’ central to children’s peer cultures at school. However, this is rarely explored from children’s perspectives in China’s relatively conservative school context. Drawing on rural primary school ethnographic fieldwork with children aged 11–13 and teachers in mid-West China, the research unearthed children’s curiosity about opposite-gender relationships and unpacks how their articulation of a ‘fine line’ between acceptable ‘liking’ and unacceptable ‘liking’ between boys and girls sits within school cultures. These are evidently shaped by Chinese socio-cultural norms and teachers’ conservative attitudes towards gender. This causes children to paradoxically experience both curiosity and anxiety around romance and practicing heterosexual relationships in school. Significantly improving sexuality and relationship education in the conservative Chinese school context is also discussed.

Evaluating a Psychoeducation Program to Foster Chinese Primary School Students' Covitality.

This investigation evaluated the Growth Psychoeducation Intervention (GPI) designed to increase primary school students’ covitality, a construct describing the beneficial combinatorial effects of positive psychological skills and mindsets. Students with higher covitality levels have stronger relationships with their teachers and classmates, and behave in more positive ways. This GPI intervention study employed a pretest-posttest-follow quasi-experimental design to evaluate a culturally adapted group counseling intervention designed to foster Chinese senior primary school students’ (n = 189, ages 9–12 years) covitality levels. The hypothesis was that covitality increases would positively correlate with school belonging and life satisfaction and less frequent bullying victimization. The Social Emotional Health Survey-Primary (SEHS-P) assessed the effectiveness of the GPI eight-week program to promote mental health and decrease bullying. GPI demonstrated effectiveness by improving students’ covitality and school belonging and reducing bullying victimization.

A Brief Analysis of the Life-oriented Teaching of Primary School Chinese

A Brief Analysis of the Life-oriented Teaching of Primary School Chinese

Design and Implementation of Primary School Chinese Homework

Design and Implementation of Primary School Chinese Homework

The Effective Application of Microlecture in Primary School Chinese Teaching

The Effective Application of Microlecture in Primary School Chinese Teaching

Age And Gender Characteristics Of Body Fat Distribution In Chinese Primary And Secondary School Students

PURPOSE: Obesity is becoming more and more popular among primary and secondary school students in China. This study attempts to understand the current situation of body fat distribution of primary and secondary school students in China, and to study the body fat of different populations. METHODS: The subjects were 7-17 years old healthy students recruited in Beijing in 2017. According to the grade, the students of Grade 1-3 in primary school are divided into the lower grade group, the students of grade 4-6 are divided into the higher grade group, the students of Grade 1-3 in junior middle school are divided into the junior middle school group, and the students of grade 1-2 in senior high school are divided into the senior high school group. After screening, 219 samples were qualified (107 boys and 112 girls). Body composition were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (xr-800 Norland, USA) in Tsinghua University. T test by SPSS22.0. RESULTS: The abdominal fat mass of primary school boys was significantly higher than that of girls, and the abdominal / pelvic fat mass ratio(A/P FMR) of primary school boys was significantly higher than that of girls. The characteristics of junior middle school students are on the contrary, except for the A/P FMR of high school students, there are significant differences in other fat distribution indicators. The fat mass of primary school boys was higher than that of girls, but the abdominal fat weight did not change with age after middle school, but the abdominal fat weight of girls increased slowly. The change of limb fat weight is the main factor of whole body fat mass change. Table 1. Distribution of body fat in primary and middle school students.CONCLUSIONS: The centripetal distribution of fat in primary school boys is more obvious. The change of limbs fat may be more obvious in Chinese primary and secondary school students.

The Path of Rural Culture into Primary School Chinese Reading Teaching

The Path of Rural Culture into Primary School Chinese Reading Teaching

Research on Academic Burden from International Perspective

Academic burnout of basic education is widespread in varying degrees in the global scope, and such situation is particularly serious in Chinese primary and secondary schools. International research has rarely mentioned the concept of academic burden, which is mainly described in other similar concepts, such as academic burnout, academic stress, academic depression and academic anxiety. In addition, studies in other countries have paid more attention to the negative influence of academic load on students’ body and mind. Based on international perspective, the paper clarifies the somatic and psychological symptoms, behavior and attitude symptoms and symptoms of academic burnout caused by heavy academic burden, analyzes the influence factors of academic burden, and compares the function and applied scope of inventories and scales for academic burden. Findings enlighten us to focus on the teaching situations and students’ nature, increase empirical research and quantitative research of academic burden, put forward evidence-based, operational and pragmatic strategy of alleviating academic burden.

Modeling Chinese teachers’ behavioral intention to use recording studios in primary schools

ABSTRACT Primary school teachers may lack the competencies to create and deliver lessons using ICT equipments. As a result, schools possess large quantities of rarely used educational ICT resources. The recording studio, a kind of ICT which is helpful in producing videos for teaching reflection, has recently been widely promoted and used in Chinese primary schools. This research aims to investigate teachers’ intention regarding recording studios and other technologies to deliver instruction, so as to explain and decrease the widespread paradox between the high access and low use of ICT for Education (ICT4E). A triangle inquiry framework between using the status of ICT4E and its influencing factors was revealed, and the conceptual model of personal and environmental influencing factors on educators’ behavioral intention was constructed. The model was validated by collecting data from 208 teachers in Chinese primary schools. Results indicated that compatibility, performance expectancy, and social influence directly influenced teachers’ intention to use recording studios. External pressure and support included personal factors such as peer influence, which indirectly affected educators’ intention. Finally, suggestions were made to administrators in primary schools on decreasing the existing paradox from the perspective of encouraging teachers’ use of ICT.

Towards the Sustainable Development of Digital Educational Games for Primary School Students in China

Despite considerable discussion on the benefits of digital educational games, empirical research on their effectiveness in primary schools in China is limited. This case study aimed to promote the sustainable development of digital educational games in primary schools in China by examining the effect of digital educational games on primary school students’ vocabulary acquisition and ascertaining their perceptions and attitudes toward this approach. Given the purposes of this study, an embedded mixed methods research design was employed. Two Grade 4 classes at a Chinese primary school were recruited in this study. During the quasi-experiment, the experimental class (n = 50) was provided with educational game software, Quizlet, while the control class (n = 50) was taught through a traditional teaching method. The results show that integrating educational games into language education in the primary schools was effective in improving students’ vocabulary acquisition. This study makes a case for further research of digital educational games in language classrooms at a primary level in China. Implications are made regarding the future sustainable implementation of digital educational games in primary schools in China.

Effects of Ethnicity and Spiritual Intelligence in the Relationship Between Awe and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Primary School Teachers.

Based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, this study explored the mediating effect of spiritual intelligence between awe and life satisfaction among Chinese primary school teachers and whether this effect was moderated by ethnicity. Participants comprised 569 teachers from 24 primary schools in southwestern China, where many of the ethnic minority groups of China reside. Awe and spiritual intelligence were found to positively predict life satisfaction among primary school teachers, while awe also indirectly influenced life satisfaction through the partial mediation of spiritual intelligence. Ethnicity was also found to moderate the relation between awe and life satisfaction, i.e., when compared with the Han teachers, there is a more significant and positive relation between awe and life satisfaction in ethnic minority teachers. These findings not only indicate the critical role of awe in promoting life satisfaction of primary school teachers but also especially show that awe embodied in the traditional cultural activities makes it easier to breed life satisfaction in ethnic minority teachers.

The role of phonological processing in children from a national-type Chinese primary school in Malaysia: implications for dyslexia assessment

ABSTRACT The Malay language writing system is alphabetic and orthographically transparent. This study aimed to determine whether phonological processing skills predict Malay word-level literacy acquisition in Chinese children from a national-type Chinese primary school in Malaysia. A correlational study among 113 Year 1 Chinese children who are non-native speakers of Malay found that phonological awareness was the only significant predictor of Malay word-level literacy acquisition. The prominent role of phonological awareness among the non-native speakers further supports phonological processing deficit as an etiology of word-level literacy difficulties across languages. We conclude that since the non-native speakers rely exclusively on phonological decoding for word-level acquisition, the effect of a phonological deficit would be detrimental. Therefore, the Malay reading-related assessment battery in this study, now validated for both native and non-native speakers can be adapted as a universal early screening tool for detecting Malaysian children at-risk of dyslexia.

Understanding English teachers’ non-volitional use of online teaching: A Chinese study

This study investigated factors influenced Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' non-volitional online teaching intentions based on an extended technology acceptance model (TAM). Facilitating conditions, technology complexity, and perceived anxiety were added to the original TAM as extended variables to examine their influence on Chinese EFL teachers' online teaching. Quantitative data were obtained from 158 teachers in Chinese primary and secondary schools and universities. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM), and the extended TAM was found to be valid in explaining Chinese EFL teachers' online teaching intentions during quarantine. Teachers' behavioral intentions were significantly associated with their attitudes and perceived usefulness of online teaching. Their perceptions of ease of use significantly influenced usefulness, which was significantly associated with teachers’ attitudes. Facilitating conditions have been suggested as an important antecedent to ease of use. Suggestions were provided for teachers and educational administrators to revisit the affordances of online teaching with the aim of coping with emergencies.

Effect of Scratch on computational thinking skills of Chinese primary school students

Effect of Scratch on computational thinking skills of Chinese primary school students

Exploring Pragmatic Identities of Teachers, Pupils and Parents in Chinese Primary School Online Education

The study of pragmatic identity has been a trend in the field of pragmatics. The primary schools in China have carried out online education in the spring of 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19, and this study focuses on two primary pupils and their teachers and parents, paying attention to the pragmatic identities constructed and the discursive devices used by the primary school teachers, pupils and their parents in this special online communication process. It is found that the teachers in this case study tend to construct four types of pragmatic identities in the online teaching activities, namely the knowledgeable scholars, instructional technicians, activity organizers and performance evaluators. The pupils participated in this study mainly build two types of pragmatic identities, namely the study explorers and atmosphere enliveners. The parents involved in the study tend to construct three pragmatic identities – teaching assistants, facility supporters and co-learners – in the online education context. Some discursive devices are used to construct these pragmatic identities, including the devices of language style, speech act, address, vocabulary selection and paralinguistic means. This study also yields some interesting findings on the interaction among teachers, pupils and parents during the process of identity construction in the online teaching and learning environment.