In Search of an East Asian Identity in Mathematics Education

East Asian students have consistently outperformed their counterparts in Western countries in recent international studies of mathematics achievement. However, these countries do not seem to have an established theory of mathematics education, and their teaching has been criticized as traditional and old fashioned. In search of an East Asian identity in mathematics education, this paper discusses the features of the East Asian mathematics education and their underlying values in contrast to features and values in the West. These are presented in terms of six dichotomies,namely, product versus process; rote learning versus meaningful learning;studying hard versus pleasurable learning;extrinsic versus intrinsic motivations;whole class teaching versus individualized learning; and competence of teachers:subject matter versus pedagogy. It is argued that these features are based on deep-rooted cultural values and paradigms. A characterization of these features and an analysis of the underlying values are essential in this search for an East Asian identity in mathematics education. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

In Search of Optimal Cognitive Diagnostic Model(s) for ESL Grammar Test Data

This study compares five cognitive diagnostic models in search of optimal one(s) for English as a Second Language grammar test data. Using a unified modeling framework that can represent specific models with proper constraints, the article first fit the full model (the log-linear cognitive diagnostic model, LCDM) and investigated which model emerged as the dominant model. It then fit the dominant model and the other models to confirm that the model provides the best fit to the data. The model found to represent the most number of items in the test was the Compensatory Reparameterized Unified Model (C-RUM) and other models compared were the Deterministic-Input, Noisy-And (DINA), Deterministic Input, Noisy-Or-gate (DINO), and Noisy Input, Deterministic-Or-gate (NIDO). The absolute (item-association root mean square error values) and relative (information criteria) model fit indices also indicated that the LCDM and the C-RUM were the best fit to the data. More detailed analyses on the functioning of the C-RUM were conducted and the interpretation of the results was included in the discussion section. The article ends with some suggestions for future research based on the limitations of the study.     

Search for Personal Identity

In reading Cooper,Emerson,Thoreau,Mark Twain and James Baldwin,we find that there is some-thing in common in the works of these writers.All these authors are trying to find their personal identity.They are trying to find out who they are,what position they hold in society,what value and meaning of their lives are. They either speak them out in their essays directly or indirectly in the light of literary im-ages in their fiction.     

Identity and ESL Pedagogical Implications of Hip-Hop/ Rap Music

Since its naissance back into the 70s of the last century,Hip-Hop and Rap music has been utilized as a channel for identity expression and formation by African Americans especially urban youth.From a sociolinguistic point of view,it is through the use of a particular language register–generally termed as African American English(AAE)–that the rappers get to portrait,narrate and elaborate their own ideologies closely concerning various aspects of their life and status.Broadly,the influence of Hip-Hop culture has gained it major momentum among urban youth across the globe.In countries where English is used as a foreign language(EFL),Hip-Hop is well received by young speakers who wish to express their own personality and alleviate pressures from schools,family and society(Li,2004).Given the multiplicity of features in Hip-Hop texts,this article argues that it can be informative to EFL in general and English pronunciation teaching in particular.     

Falling In and Filling In: ESL Teaching Careers in Changing Times

Drawing from a study in four schoolsin Ontario, Canada, this article identifiesissues around the professional training, dailywork, and potential long-term commitment of ESL(English as a Second Language) teachers whoprovide much of the initial educationalprogramming for the growing number ofincreasingly diverse immigrant students in manyNorth American school systems. Because ESLteachers are most directly involved with newimmigrants, they experience most directly thechallenges and consequences of what a number ofresearchers have identified as a fundamentalmismatch between traditional school practicesand the current student population's academicand social needs.     

Identity and Language Functions: High School Chinese Immigrant Students' Code-Switching Dilemmas in ESL Classes

This study examines classroom code-switching in relation to individual and group identity and to functional use of two languages. It investigates how high school Chinese immigrant students perceive the use of first language (L1) and second language (L2) in class, and how they use these languages during group activities. The interview data demonstrate that the students in this study had multiple and contradictory feelings aboutL1andL2use. The observation data show that there were differences in the functions of these students' L1 and L2 discourse. These findings indicate that bilingual classroom code-switching involved dilemmas for the students. They appeared to be torn between identifying with compatriots in L1 and gaining membership in mainstream classes in L2, between maintaining L1 and developing L2, and between using L1 for academic discourse and developing academic discourse in L2. Identity and language functions seem two side-by-side components of the dilemmas. A complex vision that includes both may address code-switching dilemmas more adequately.     

An Analysis on an ESL Class

Input is the precondition of interaction and output while output promotes the input and the interaction of language,which could increase the effectiveness of input and enhance the chance of the absorption of interaction.By analyzing an ESL class,this paper gives readers a picture of how the second language(SL)learners get information,absorb and digest the information,produce language and form their language system in their SL learning.At last,it gives suggestions on how to ensure language learners have a better chance to get comprehensible input,assimilate language during interaction and output more accurate and comprehensible second language in an ESL class.     

游苔莎——女性内在性的超越和自我身份的寻求——对哈代《还乡》女主角的另一种解读

文章认为哈代作品《还乡》的女主人公游苔莎充满了朦胧的现代意识,她的行动背离了男权社会对传统女性的期待和道德规范,张扬了女性确立自我,肯定自我的精神,体现了女性超越自身内在性,寻求自我身份的主体性追寻和女性意识的觉醒,是哈代女性角色中最为坚定的反叛者。     

Empowerment: In Search of a Viable Paradigm

The word “empowerment” is associated with several different and fundamentally inadequate paradigms. This paper presents an alternative, empowering view of empowerment. The essence of empowerment is increasing the behavior potential of persons, individually and in groups and organizations. Behavior potential is not some abstract concept of “what a person might do if” Instead, it is the totality of behaviors that are actually available to a given person in a given environment. These behaviors do not occur in a vacuum; behavior potential is the intersection of the person's behavioral productions with the organization's expectations and permissions. An individual is empowered to the extent that he or she possesses a rich repertoire of behaviors and is expected and permitted to make full use of this repertoire by the organization.     

陈染作品中的身份认同轨迹

陈染作为20世纪90年代女性文学的一个突出个案,曾引起文学界和评论界的广泛关注。文章尝试运用社会心理学的认同理论,并结合女性主义的研究方法,通过对陈染的作品分析,来揭示陈染创作中的身份认同轨迹。通过分析我们可以看到,陈染在20世纪80年代写作之初,还没有明确的性别意识和性别立场。这一时期她的创作经历了身份认同感的缺失与寻找的焦虑这两个阶段。进入20世纪90年代以后,陈染的创作风格趋于成熟,她的作品开始具有了明确的女性意识,然而同时期陈染的作品还没有能力构建出理想的女性人格,她的身份认同之路依然充满了曲折。     

Learner Identity Amid Figured Worlds: Constructing (In)competence at an Urban High School

This article explores the figured world of learning at urban Oakcity High School, describing the learner identities that were available to students amid the practices, categories, discourses and interactions of this world. My aims are 2-fold and interconnected: (1) to reframe a taken-for-granted phenomenon—that students tend to do poorly at urban high schools serving low income students of color, and (2) to apply a situated perspective and the concepts of figured worlds and positional identities to the study of learning and identity at an urban high school, expanding the use of these concepts in educational research. Beth C. Rubin is an Assistant Professor in Graduate School of Education, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey 10 Seminary Place New Brunswick NJ 08901 USA     

In Search of Psychology's Philosophical Center

Several school-based racial prejudice-reduction interventions have demonstrated some benefit. Ecological theory serves as a framework within which to understand the limits and to enhance the efficacy of prejudice-reduction interventions. Using ecological theory, this article examines three prejudice-reduction approaches, including social cognitive training, cooperative learning, and liberation psychology. I discuss each approach in terms of its conceptualization of the ecological structures and processes that cause prejudice. I also discuss each approach in terms of what ecological structures and processes it enlists to reduce prejudice. These examples illustrate that the theory of etiology on which an intervention is based strongly shapes and severely limits the scope of the intervention. Ecological theory suggests specific strategies to overcome this limitation and to enhance prejudice-reduction efforts in the schools.     

In Search of a Language Syllabus

A language programme for social competence developed in a further education unit for students with severe learning difficulties is described by Dot Smith, senior speech therapist, Dawn Hopkinson, teacher, St Andrew's, Derby     

In Search of an Adequate Response to Pluralism: A Critical Analysis of Liberalism in Philosophy of Education

Nearly everyone recognizes the fact of deep pluralism: it is hard to deny that contemporary America is characterized by widespread diversity of beliefs, practices, and values. We disagree, not on this reality, but on the way we should respond to the pluralism around us. In this paper, Emily G. Wenneborg discusses one of the most common responses to pluralism in contemporary philosophy of education: autonomy-based liberalism. She praises liberalism for its attempt to navigate certain tensions that accompany its approach to pluralism. At the same time, she raises several critiques of liberalism as a response to pluralism, particularly with regard to religious communities and belief systems. She suggests that trust provides a better framework than autonomy for educating in and for deep pluralism.