关于慈竹属和单竹属的讨论

 When F. A. McClure published the new genus Sinocalamus McClure in 1940, the 4 species he listed are S. latiflorus (Munro) McClure, S. beecheyanus (Munro) Mc- Clure, S. oldhami (Munro) McClure and S. affinis (Rendle) McClure.  After careful examination, the authors of this paper considered that the type species of McClure’s genus S. latiflorus (Munro) McClure should belong to the genus Dendrocalamus Nees, and the other species are of Bambusa Schreber.  Owing to Sinocalamus McClure is not a taxon representative of its type species, but a mixture, it must be rejected as a synonym of Dendrocalamus Nees.  In consequence then, the authors make adjustment to the taxonomic category of the 14 species and 1 variety which have ever been in Sinocalamus McClure.      As for the characters of Lingnania McClure, except that some differences exist in the vegetative parts, the structure of the spikelets is in the main the same as that of Bambusa Schreber.  Consequently, with regard to the systematic relationship, the authors consider it may be more resonable that the rank of Lingnania McClure should be alter- ed to Bambusa Schreber subg.  Lingnania (MeClure) Chia  et H. L. Fung; all the species of Lingnania McClure, except that L. tsiangii McClure should be transferred to Dendrocalamus Nees, should be assignable to Bambusa Schreber subg.  Lingnania (McClure) Chia et H. L. Fung.     

Teachers’ misconceptions and questionable practices when using Putonghua 1 as the medium-of-instruction: a case study of Hong Kong

Immediately after the handover of Hong Kong to China, the teaching of Chinese in Putonghua was promulgated by the Hong Kong SAR government as a long-term goal. However, no clear definition and guidance regarding Putonghua instruction has been provided to teachers to facilitate the smooth implementation of this change. A review of the literature indicates that teachers’ beliefs have great value in assisting them to make sense of changes and govern their thoughts and behaviours. However, little is known about how teachers’ beliefs help teachers to understand the transition to a new medium-of-instruction (MOI). Thus, the aim of this case study is to examine how teachers’ beliefs help teachers to conceptualize the Putonghua medium-of-instruction (PMI) and how these beliefs affect their curricular decisions as well as the implementation of PMI. Data were collected from 10 secondary Chinese Language teachers in one school using semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The findings revealed that since teachers held misconceptions about PMI in the initial phase, the implementation of PMI led to a shift of focus away from Chinese content knowledge. In the second phase, PMI was perceived merely as a code-switching device, and, as a result, only a surface change occurred that appeared unlikely to facilitate effective teaching and deep learning. This paper concludes with the observation that code switching alone is insufficient to achieve a successful transition of MOI if the deeper issue of teachers’ beliefs is neglected.     

The Devil in the Detail: Contradictory national requirements and Bologna master degrees

This article compares the national-level requirements for master degree provision in England, Denmark and Portugal following the implementation of the Bologna Process, and ponders upon the reconcilability of these requirements in cross-national initiatives (e.g. joint degrees). In all three countries, master degrees have to comply with the national qualification frameworks, which have been verified against the Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area. Other regulations apply, however. In Denmark and Portugal, higher education degrees are tightly regulated by legislation, while the Academic Infrastructure developed by the Quality Assurance Agency in the UK acts as a broad reference for degree design, giving English institutions a high degree of freedom. Findings reveal the existence of contradictory requirements which have arisen further to policy adaptations, made possible by the non-legally binding character of Bologna and its loose policy mechanisms.     

Competing philosophies in the classroom: a challenge to Hong Kong teachers

The present paper examines the experiences of teachers in teaching children with special needs in mainstream schools and how they see and evaluate the feasibility of the new integration initiatives in Hong Kong. The data are based on individual and focus group interviews with general class teachers, resource class teachers and principals of mainstream schools admitting students with special needs. Teachers reported difficulties and problems in maintaining classroom discipline and ambivalence in meeting the competing demands between students with and without special needs. The structural constraints of implementing a rigidly defined curriculum and being accountable for good academic results regardless of student competence pose formidable obstacles in achieving the goals of integrated education. There is a conflict at the systemic level between the philosophy of academic excellence defined by grades on the one hand and the philosophy of equality and inclusion on the other. Improving parent participation, having an ample supply of funds, the provision of necessary equipment and facilities, the availability of pre‐ and in‐service training to teachers, and additional manpower in counselling are the most urgently needed resources in facilitating teachers to engage in teaching students with special needs alongside others.     

Modeling the impact of individuals’ characteristics and library service levels on high school students’ public library usage: A national analysis

Information behavior (IB) and public library usage studies seldom simultaneously analyze individual-level characteristics and community-level information service factors. Thus, it is uncertain whether changes in community-level factors, such as an increase in public library funding and service level, make a difference in an individual's library usage after differences in personal characteristics are accounted for. Applying the person-in-environment (PIE) framework designed to integrate individual agency and sociostructural factors in IB research, this study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the factors influencing a student's frequency of public library usage for schoolwork, leisure, and Internet access. It mapped and merged a nationally representative survey of 13,000 U.S. 12th graders with census tract data and public library statistics. The SEM findings indicate that school information environment, frequency of school library use, race/ethnicity, and home computer availability were among the top three factors affecting public library usage for schoolwork, leisure, and Internet access. More importantly, library service levels had a positive impact on students’ library usage in terms of frequency of use. Specifically, even after personal differences such as each student's socioeconomic status and achievement motivation were controlled for, higher service levels in the student's neighborhood public library contributed to more frequent library usage. The findings pinpoint the benefits for individual-level IB study to incorporate etic measures of community-level factors. The findings also suggest that continuous effort to fund high levels of public library services—particularly in disadvantaged areas—is worthwhile. Such efforts should be encouraged.     

The effect of site quality on repurchase intention in Internet shopping through mediating variables: The case of university students in South Korea

We performed a study to determine the influence that site quality has on repurchase intention of Internet shopping through customer satisfaction, customer trust, and customer commitment. Appropriate measures were developed and tested on 230 university students of Gyeongnam province in South Korea with a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The results of the empirical analysis confirmed that site quality can be conceptualized as a composite of six dimensions of shopping convenience, site design, information usefulness, transaction security, payment system, and customer communication. Second, site quality positively affected customer satisfaction and customer trust, but did not affect customer commitment and repurchase intention. Third, site quality can affect repurchase intention by enhancing or attenuating customer satisfaction, customer trust, and customer commitment in online transaction situation. The mediating effect of customer satisfaction, customer trust, and customer commitment between site quality and repurchase intention is identified. Fourth, site quality indirectly affected customer commitment through customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction indirectly affected repurchase intention through customer trust and customer commitment. Thus, it is found that site quality can be a very important factor to enhance repurchase intention in the customer perspective.     

Parties,media and public opinion: A study of media's legitimation of party politics in Hong Kong

Political groups have long existed in Hong Kong since 1949. The ‘consultative government’ was hostile towards groups which were critical of government policies. Before the 1980s, in a minimally‐integrated media‐political system, mass media, in compliance with the government served to undermine their legitimacy. Party politics and political parties were framed as ‘dirty polities’. However, the move towards a representative government since the 1980s in face of the power transfer to China, together with the 4 June incident, have transformed the public's stance towards the newly established democratic groups. In response to the changing public opinion, the media started in the late 1980s to give consent to the emergence of party politics in the democratic system. In the first direct Legislative Council in 1991, mass media ‘incorporated’ party politics as part the local political system.     

Taiwanese Students in Malaysia and Interculturality: When National Identities Take Primacy over Individualities

Abstract Using a liquid approach, the authors analyze the intercultural discourse of Taiwanese students who had taken part in a short term exchange program with a Malaysian university. The four participants were graduating in Mandarin Chinese in their home institution and were following a Chinese program in multilingual Malaysia. Data were collected through focus groups held in Mandarin Chinese and focused on their experience in the host country. The authors analyze how participants talk about themselves, Malaysians, and their adaptation to the host country. The processes of essentialization and othering that occur and put in contrast the host and the home contexts are similar to those held in Asia-to-Europe mobility and very far from an “interculturality without culture” (Dervin, 2010). If we focus on the construction of discourses, this Asia-to-Asia mobility forces us to relativize the opposition of cultures as an explanation for difficulties encountered by mobile students.     

中外合作办学宿舍文化潜在课程及学生感受的实证分析——以广东某高校为个案

以广东省某中外合作办学高校为研究个案,对宿生发放了526份问卷,并对该校相关管理部门的负责人以及个别宿生进行了访谈,力求了解中外合作高校校方设计/引导的宿舍文化蕴含的潜在课程(含宿舍的物质文化、制度文化和精神文化三个层面)及学生对其的感受。研究结果表明:学生对中外合作办学宿舍文化潜在课程的整体评价大多数是正面而积极的,只有13.5%的学生表示不喜欢小镇的生活。大多数学生认同小镇生活,认为其让他们获得了独立的生活能力并学会了人际交往技巧,学生对于三个层面潜在课程功效的认同度由高到低分别为物质、制度、精神。     

Pre-service teachers' beliefs about the switch of medium-of-instruction and their influence on lesson planning and teaching practice

Studies suggest that pre-service teachers' existing beliefs often serve as a lens to interpret the subject matter to be taught, guide their thoughts in lesson planning and shape their behaviour in classroom practices during their teaching practicum. This study examines how these beliefs affect pre-service teachers' conceptualization of Putonghua-medium-of-instruction (PMI) and their teaching. The findings indicate that the conceptualization of pre-service teachers about PMI ranged from code switching to curriculum integration. Their focus of lesson planning and teaching practice varied from transmission of Putonghua knowledge and detailed explanation of text information to integration of Chinese Language and Putonghua.