Heritage language learning for Chinese Australians : the role of habitus

The relationship between Heritage Language and ethnic identity has gained significant research ground in social psychological and poststructural scholarship, with empirical evidence largely emerging from the North American settings. There is little pertinent sociological work conducted outside North America. To fill this gap, this sociological study sets its scene in an Australian context. Drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of habitus, the study examines the contribution of Chinese Australians’ Chineseness to their Chinese Heritage Language proficiency. Two hundred and thirty young Chinese Australians completed the online survey. Results from multiple regression indicate that habitus of Chineseness is one of the significant predictors for the Chinese Heritage Language proficiency of these young people. The study makes a theoretical contribution to investigate ethnic identity – Heritage Language link through the notion of habitus and makes a methodological contribution to quantify this habitus.

The discursive nature of citizenship : Indigenous sovereign rights, racism and welfare reform

Citizenship is more than a status associated with a bundle of rights; it is also the formal contract by which the sovereignty of a nation is extended to the individual in exchange for being governed. Who can and who cannot contract into this status and what rights are able to be exercised is also shaped by who possesses the nation. In this article it is argued that citizenship operates discursively to contain Indigenous people’s engagement with the economy through social rights. This containment precludes consideration of Indigenous sovereign rights to our lands and resources, to enable Indigenous economic development within a capitalist market economy.

Comparison of the coat protein, movement protein and RNA polymerase gene sequences of Australian, Chinese, and American isolates of barley yellow dwarf virus transmitted by Rhopalosiphum padi

Barley yellow dwarf luteovirus-GPV (BYDV-GPV) is a common problem in Chinese wheat crops but is unrecorded elsewhere. A defining characteristic of GPV is its capacity to be transmitted efficiently by both Schizaphis graminum and Rhopaloshiphum padi. This dual aphid species transmission contrasts with those of BYDV-RPV and BYDV-SGV, globally distributed viruses, which are efficiently transmitted only by Rhopaloshiphum padi and Schizaphis graminum respectively. The viral RNA sequences encoding the coat protein (22K) gene, the movement protein (17K) gene, the region surrounding the conserved GDD motif of the polymerase gene and the intergenic sequences between these genes were determined for GPV and an Australian isolate of BYDV-RPV (RPVa). In all three genes, the sequences of GPV and RPVa were more similar to those of an American isolate of BYDV-RPV (RPVu) than to any other luteovirus for which there is data available. RPVa and RPVu were very similar, especially their coat proteins which had 97% identity at the amino acid level. The coat protein of GPV had 76% and 78% amino acid identity with RPVa and RPVu respectively. The data suggest that RPVu and RPVa are correctly named as strains of the same serotype and that GPV is sufficiently different from either RPV strain to be considered a distinct BYDV type. The coat protein and movement protein genes of GPV are very dissimilar to SGV. The polymerase sequences of RPVu, RPVa and GPV show close affinities with those of the sobemo-like luteoviruses and little similarity with those of the carmo-like luteoviruses. The sequences of the coat proteins, movement proteins and the polymerase segments of BYDV serotypes, other than RPV and GPV, form a cluster that is separate from their counterpart sequences from dicot-infecting luteoviruses. The RPV and GPV isolates consistently fall within a dicot-infecting cluster. This suggests that RPV and GPV evolved from within this group of viruses. Since these other viruses all infect dicots it seems likely that their common ancestor infected a dicot and that RPV and GPV evolved from a virus that switched hosts from a dicot to a monocot.

A Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy Method for Direct Analysis of Several Chemical Components and Properties of Fruit, for Example, Chinese Hawthorn

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) calibrations were developed for the discrimination of Chinese hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida Bge. var. major) fruit from three geographical regions as well as for the estimation of the total sugar, total acid, total phenolic content, and total antioxidant activity. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for the discrimination of the fruit on the basis of their geographical origin. Three pattern recognition methods, linear discriminant analysis, partial least-squares-discriminant analysis, and back-propagation artificial neural networks, were applied to classify and compare these samples. Furthermore, three multivariate calibration models based on the first derivative NIR spectroscopy, partial least-squares regression, back-propagation artificial neural networks, and least-squares-support vector machines, were constructed for quantitative analysis of the four analytes, total sugar, total acid, total phenolic content, and total antioxidant activity, and validated by prediction data sets.

Biological values of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine : impact on the life science

Editorial paper

A comparison of children's needs models in the Australian and Chinese context

The diverse needs of children have been drawing global attention from both academic and practitioner communities. Based on semi-structured interviews with 23 kin caregivers and five school personnel in the Shijiapu Town of Jilin Province, China, this paper presents a needs model for rural school-age children left behind by their migrant parents. This Chinese model is compared to the needs identification mechanism developed by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and youth. The paper outlines the common needs of children in different contexts, and also highlights the needs that are not explicit in the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth framework, such as empowerment and agency or perhaps given insufficient weight, such as education. In discussing relationships among different needs, aspects that are missing in the framework it is argued that culture should be more explicitly recognised when defining need.

Chinese fashion designers in Shanghai : identifying a fresh perspective about their role in the world order of fashion

Shanghai possesses an apt legacy, once referred to as “Paris of the East”. Municipal aspirations for Shanghai to assume a position among the great fashion cities of the world have been integrated in the recent re-shaping of this modern city into a role model for Chinese creative enterprise yet China is still known primarily as centre of clothing production. Increasingly however, “Made in China” is being replaced by “Created in China” drawing attention to two distinct consumer markets for Chinese designers. Fashion designers who have entered the global fashion system for education or by showing their collections have generally adopted a design aesthetic that aligns with Western markets, allowing little competitive advantage. In contrast, Chinese designers who rest their attention on the domestic Chinese market find a disparate, highly competitive marketplace. The pillars of authenticity that for foreign fashion brands extend far into their cultural and creative histories, often for many decades in the case of Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Christian Dior do not yet exist in China in this era of rapid globalisation. Here, the cultural bedrock allows these same pillars to extend only thirty years or so into the past reaching the moments when Deng Xiaoping granted China’s creative entrepreneurs passage. To this end, interviews with fashion designers in Shanghai have been undertaken during the last twelve months for a PhD dissertation. Production of culture theory has been used to identify working methods, practices of production and the social and cultural milieu necessary for designers to achieve viability.

Awareness of risky behaviour among Chinese drivers

Background In China, as in many developing countries, rapid increases in car ownership and new drivers have been coupled with a large trauma burden. The World Health Organization has identified key risk factors including speeding, drink-driving, helmet and restraint non-use, overloaded vehicles, and fatigued-driving in many rapidly motorising countries, including China. Levels of awareness of these risk factors among road users are not well understood. Although research identifies speeding as the major factor contributing to road crashes in China, there appears to be widespread acceptance of it among the broader community. Purpose To assess self-reported speeding and awareness of crash risk factors among Chinese drivers in Beijing. Methods Car drivers (n=299) were recruited from car washing locations and car parks to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Perceptions of the relative risk of drink-driving, fatigued-driving and speeding, and attitudes towards speeding and self-reported driving speeds were assessed. Results Overall, driving speeds of >10km/hr above posted limits on two road types (60 and 80 km/hour zones) were reported by more than one third of drivers. High-range speeding (i.e., >30 km/hour in a 60 km/hour zone and >40 km/hour in an 80 km/hour zone) was reported by approximately 5% of the sample. Attitudinal measures indicated that approximately three quarters of drivers reported attitudes that were not supportive of speeding. Drink-driving was identified as the most risky behaviour; 18% reported the perception that drink-driving had the same level of danger as speeding and 82% reported it as more dangerous. For fatigued-driving, 1% reported the perception that it was not as dangerous as speeding; 27.4% reported it as the same level and 71.6% perceived it as more dangerous. Conclusion Driving speeds well above posted speed limits were commonly reported by drivers. Speeding was rated as the least dangerous on-road behaviour, compared to drink-driving and fatigued-driving. One third of drivers reported regularly engaging in speeds at least 10km/hr above posted limits, despite speeding being the major reported contributor to crashes. Greater awareness of the risks associated with speeding is needed to help reduce the road trauma burden in China and promote greater speed limit compliance.

'Haunts of the street bully' : social reform and the Queensland children's playground movement

This article is about the Queensland children's playground movement and its development in Brisbane. It pays particular attention to three Brisbane playgrounds: Neal Macrossan Playground (formerly Paddington Playground); Bedford Playground (formerly Spring Hill Playground); and the Valley Playground, which has since been replaced by a building. The paper pays especial attention to the work of the local children's playground protagonist Mary Josephine Bedford, which will be seen within the context of the international movement.

On Chinese Modal Particle A (啊) : A Pragmatic and Semantic Study

Chinese modal particles feature prominently in Chinese people’s daily use of the language, but their pragmatic and semantic functions are elusive as commonly recognised by Chinese linguists and teachers of Chinese as a foreign language. This book originates from an extensive and intensive empirical study of the Chinese modal particle a (啊), one of the most frequently used modal particles in Mandarin Chinese. In order to capture all the uses and the underlying meanings of the particle, the author transcribed the first 20 episodes, about 20 hours in length, of the popular Chinese TV drama series Kewang ‘Expectations’, which yielded a corpus data of more than 142’000 Chinese characters with a total of 1829 instances of the particle all used in meaningful communicative situations. Within its context of use, every single occurrence of the particle was analysed in terms of its pragmatic and semantic contributions to the hosting utterance. Upon this basis the core meanings were identified which were seen as constituting the modal nature of the particle.

Ownership, corporate governance and IPO post-listing liquidity

This thesis investigates how ownership structure and corporate governance relate to the post-listing liquidity of IPO firms. Using a sample of 1,049 Chinese IPOs from 2001 to 2010, the results show firms with a broader shareholder base and higher ownership concentration have greater post-listing liquidity. So do firms with higher state ownership and lower institution ownership. Corporate governance is also important; post-listing liquidity is higher for firms with CEO duality, a larger and more independent board, and more frequent board meetings. The 2005 Split Share Structure Reform, which increased the proportion of tradable shares, has a positive impact on liquidity.

Dimensions and reliability of a hospital safety climate questionnaire in Chinese health-care practice

The aim of the current study was to examine the dimensions and reliability of a hospital safety climate questionnaire in Chinese health-care practice. To achieve this, a cross-sectional survey of health-care professionals was undertaken at a university teaching hospital in Shandong province, China. Our survey instrument demonstrated very high internal consistency, comparing well with previous research in this field conducted in other countries. Factor analysis highlighted four key dimensions of safety climate, which centred on employee personal protection, employee interactions, safetyrelated housekeeping and time pressures. Overall, this study suggests that hospital safety climate represents an important aspect of health-care practice in contemporary China.

Lesson studies in Chinese kindergartens

Lesson studies are a powerful form of professional development (Doig and Groves, 2011). The processes of creating, enacting, analyzing, and refining lessons to improve teaching practices are key components of lesson studies. Lesson studies have been the primary form of professional development in Japanese classrooms for many years (Lewis, Perry and Hurd, 2009). This model is now used to improve instruction in many South-East Asian countries (White and Lim, 2008), as well as increasingly in North America (Lesson Study Research Group, 2004), and South Africa (Ono and Ferreira, 2010). In China, this form of professional development aimed at improving teaching, has also been adopted, originating from Soviet models of teacher professional development arising from influences post 1949 (China Education Yearbook, 1986). Thus, China too has a long history of improving teaching and learning through this form of school-based professional learning.

The Nagle Royal Commission 25 years on : gaining perspective on two and a half decades of NSW prison reform

This article attempts an audit of changes in the NSW penal system over the last nearly 30 years. Taking the 1978 Nagle Royal Commission findings and analysis as the starting point a comparison is made between the Nagle era and the contemporary scene across a range of practices including imprisonment rates, violence, drug use, deaths in custody, prison conditions, prisoners rights, legal regulation, and others. It is suggested that developments since Nagle are mixed and cannot be attributed to a single logic or force. Major changes include a doubling of imprisonment rates, significant increases in Indigenous and women's imprisonment rates, the apparent ending of institutionalised bashings and the centrality of drug use to imprisonment and to the culture, health and security practices which characterise the current prison experience. The article may constitute a useful starting point for broader attempts to relate current penal practices to far wider changes in the conditions of life under late modernity.

Challenges to Criminal Justice Reform

The Promise of Law Reform the most comprehensive examination of the institutions and processes of law reform published in the common law world and provides a rich source of information, inspiration and ideas. It is an edited collection of 30 essays published to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Australian Law Reform Commission. The authors - law reform commissioners, judges, academics, politicians, government officials, and journalists - reflect the plurality of law reform styles and structures, within Australia and overseas. They cover the broad themes of the history, purpose and function of law reform; institutional design of law reform agencies; methodology and operations; how successful law reform should be assessed and judged; cooperation and mutual assistance; other law reform initiatives; and law reform in action.