馬來西亞華文獨立中學高中統一考試的研究(1975-2005)

Fu Yunzi(傳芸子, 1902-1948), the elder brother of Chinese Opera theorist Fu Xihua(傅惜華), was originally named Bao-Kun(寶坤), and also known as Yun-Zhi(韞之), Can-Ying(餐英) and Zhu Zui Sheng(竹醉生). Fu had in-depth knowledge of Chinese opera, documentation, and the Dunhuang(敦煌) studies. He also had a good command of Japanese Language. He worked at the Library of Yenching(燕京) Chinese School in his early years. A reporter at the Peking Gazette(京報), he later became editorin- chief for several magazines such as the Beijing Pictorial(北京畫報), the Chinese Opera Pictorial(國劇畫報) and the Nan Jin Magazine(南金雜誌). In 1932, Fu founded the Peking Opera Association(北平國劇學會) along with Mei Lanfang(梅蘭芳), Yu Shuyan(余叔岩) and Qi Rushan(齊如山).Also in 1932, Fu went to Japan as an instructor at the Institute of Oriental Culture, Kyoto Imperial University where he taught Chinese language and Literature. In Japan, he explored Shoso-in (正倉院), Japan's imperial repository browsed official and personal collections of books and discovered many texts previously unseen in China. It was truly a great contribution. Fu even wrote an article entitled ”Interpreting Gundiao” to infer elaborately on the Qingyang Tune of the Ming Dynasty for the first time.This article will pursue the meaning and significance of Fu's viewpoints in ”Interpreting Gundiao”. Opinions from scholars and experts are hereby invited.

In the midst of last century, during the war between KMT (Kuomintang) and CCP (Chinese Communist Party), a large number of KMT Chinese soldiers and their families retreated all the way from Yunnan, China to Myanmar and Northern Thailand (Thaibei). With their “anti-Communism” belief, the Chinese in Thaibei maintained close relationship with the Republic of China (Taiwan) for past decades, by receiving plenty of benevolent resources from the Taiwanese government and the general public. In Northern Thailand, Chinese school exists in each village. Local Students can learn Mandarin with Taiwanese textbooks in the traditional Chinese format. Parents are desirous of sending their children to study in Taiwan. However, during the past years, the abundant resources provided from CCP have changed the condition in the traditional anti-Communism area. China struck on Thaibei Chinese villages with the ground of “taking care of Thaibei compatriots.” The report has found that the resources from China are similar to those from Taiwan, including school admission offerings, overseas passports, scholarships, simplified Chinese textbooks, permanently stationed teachers, exchanges and training activities of teachers. Chinese people in Thaibei have different attitudes and perceptions towards China in different areas, positions and backgrounds. Receiving the resources from China has caused a huge controversy in the traditional pro-Taiwan Thaibei Chinese community. The sensitive problem between “pro-China” and “pro-Taiwan” groups is still difficult to be solved. By tracking the studying path of Thaibei students studying in China, this TV in-depth report discusses their motives of choosing China over Taiwan. It also analyzes Thaibei Chinese's tangle with China by investigating the controversy caused by China resources provided to Thaibei.

”The integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism into the interpretation of I-Ching,” as the core idea of Fang Yi-chih's philosophy, emphasized the integration of the various Chinese philosophical schools to ”refine” them into the essence of Chinese thought. Fang Yi-chih, in his ”Refining Chuang-Tzu in the Way of Extracting Herbal Medicine”, employed the method of ”convergence” to ”refine Chuang-Tzu” to emphasize the unity of Chinese thought. Studying ”Chuang-Tzu” from the approach of ”the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism into the interpretation of l-Ching,” Fang completed his academic masterpiece ”Refining Chuang-Tzu in the Way of Extracting Herbal Medicine” in the identity of ”the monk of herbal medicine.” On the one hand, by motivation, he would like to create a new vision for interpreting ”Chuang-Tzu”; on the other hand, he tried to reflect on the transition crisis of the era in which he lived, that is, the crisis of the very moment of political transition from the Ming-dynasty government to the Qing-dynasty government. Converging Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism into l-Ching, Fang Yi-chih showed his duty as an intelligentsia in a chaotic era.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the concepts of death embedded in the content of Chinese language elementary school textbooks. Content analysis is employed with death concept system developed by Tamm and Granqvist (1995) as classification scheme. Sample includes four different editions of textbooks from Book Ⅰ to Book 4, resulting in 24 books in total. The study found that with respect to the level of death concept, the four editions focus more on biological and metaphysical death concepts, while the psychological death concept is the least depicted. There are numerous references of metaphysical death concepts across the grade 1-3 textbooks of 4 different editionds, however, they do not increase with increasing grades. According to the results of this study, recommendations regarding death education for teachers and textbook publishers are laid out, and some suggestions for future research are also provided.

Student learning in language-related subjects has become a gendered field, featuring higher participation rate and better performance by girls and women. Among others, the stereotypes depicting females as better language learners are thought to have led to such observed gender differences. Yet, few studies have examined the exact contents and effects of these stereotypes. This two-phase project investigated the issue using mixed-methods designs. In Phase 1, a questionnaire survey (Study 1) and semi-structured interviews (Study 2) were conducted simultaneously. MANOVA and thematic analysis were applied to two data strands, respectively. It was found that students, their guardians, and their teachers of English stereotypically considered females as better language learners in three dimensions: aptitude, achievement and affect. Additionally, a stronger stereotypical additive connection between affect and achievement was discovered, compared to that between aptitude and achievement. Phase 2 employed a sequential design. First, Study 3, a field experiment, uncovered gender-divergent effects of stereotypes on learners: results from a 2 (gender) × 2 (stereotype activation) between-groups ANCOVA indicated that male participants suffered from performance decrements in an English test after having been exposed to negative stereotypes. Female participants’ performance, instead, was marginally boosted. Subsequently, in Study 4, eight interviews with students in groups of three were carried out to explore students’ encounters with gender stereotypes concerning language learning. A range of cognitive, emotive, and behavioural responses were identified, indicating that the female stereotyping of language fields have been exerting predominantly adverse influences on boys and girls alike. This project has furthered scholarly understanding of gender stereotypes and language education. It also promotes a gender-equitable and -inclusive environment for language learners by highlighting the practical need for awareness-raising programmes sensitising students, guardians, and teachers to their gender-stereotypical beliefs and a synergy of intervention strategies targeting at each of the three dimensions of gender-language stereotypes (aptitude, achievement, and affect).

ABSTRACT: This purpose of study was to identify teachers’ perceptions towards the usage of courseware in the teaching and learning of Economics at Form 4 and Form 5 levels at Penang secondary schools. Other aspects observed were the knowledge and basic skills of the teachers in the use of computer, the methods used in the teaching and learning of Economics and their perceptions towards the use of courseware in the teaching and learning process. In this study, 30 in-service teachers were chosen randomly as research samples, representing the teachers’ population teaching Economics in 96 schools in Penang. This study was carried out using the quantitative approach. Descriptive statistics used include frequency, %age, and min relativity index. The findings showed that teachers teaching Economics at Penang secondary schools are receptive about the usage of courseware in the teaching and learning of Economics. They also believed that the usage could also bring benefits to the students. The results of the overall relativity index show that there is readiness among the teachers in using courseware in the teaching and learning of Economics at the Form 4 and Form 5 levels. A few suggestions for improvements in the teaching and learning process have also been put forth in this paper. KEY WORDS: Teachers’ perceptions, courseware, economics, knowledge and basic skills, computer, and teaching and learning process. About the Authors: Termit Kaur Ranjit Singh and Abdul Rashid Mohamed are the Lecturers at the School of Educational Studies USM (Science University of Malaysia), Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. One of them can be reached at: termitk@usm.my How to cite this article? Ranjit Singh, Termit Kaur & Abdul Rashid Mohamed. (2010). “Teachers’ Perceptions towards the Usage of Courseware in the Teaching and Learning of Economics at Malaysian Secondary Schools” in EDUCARE: International Journal for Educational Studies , Vol.3(1) August, pp.23-34. Bandung, Indonesia: Minda Masagi Press owned by ASPENSI in Bandung, West Java; and FKIP UMP in Purwokerto, Central Java, ISSN 1979-7877. Chronicle of the article: Accepted (June 20, 2010); Revised (July 20, 2010); and Published (August 17, 2010).

A key feature of positive education is its focus on factors that can help students flourish. In the current study, we examined the role of resilience in promoting optimal mental health of Chinese secondary school students who suffered the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, China. In the earthquake central region, 518 participants recruited in November 2008 about 6 months and 473 participants recruited 1 year after the earthquake, were assumed to have the highest and mid-level disaster stress levels, respectively. 602 participants from areas unaffected by the earthquake in December 2008 were assumed to have the lowest stress level. Participants' mental health and resilience were assessed by the clinical scales of the Cross-cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment Inventory for Adolescents and the Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents, respectively. Higher stress level participants reported significantly lower resilience and higher mental health problems. Negative correlations between resilience and mental health problems were confirmed across the three groups. Only supportive power resilience showed significant predictions on mental health problems in the two earthquake groups. The implications on mental health counseling and positive education in Chinese secondary school students were discussed.

The Chinese community’s unique position in Malaysian inter-ethnic relations weaves through intricate interactions with other ethnic groups, maintaining distinct cultural identities amidst Malaysia’s diverse ethnic fabric. This study explores the intricate relationship between ethnic consciousness and cultural heritage among Malaysian Chinese people, examining, within a historical context, how this community maintains its distinct identity within a multi-ethnic society. Utilizing focus group discussions (FGDs) with Chinese independent schools (CIS) students, the study delves into their identity perceptions, influenced by both “authority-defined” and “everyday-defined” social realities. The findings reveal how cultural heritage, particularly through lion dance activities, reinforces ethnic consciousness while contributing to a broader national identity. This study elucidates the complex dynamics of ethnic identity formation in a multicultural context and advocates for an inclusive heritage management. Such an approach fosters dialogue, respects diversity, and enhances our understanding of the role of heritage in shaping a cohesive, multicultural society.

The purpose of this study is to compare teachers’ teaching practice based on students’ perception towards achievement in the subject of Basic Economics between two different types of secondary schools in Malaysia, the National Secondary Schools (SMK) and Chinese National Type Secondary Schools (SMJK) in the state of Penang, Malaysia. The respondents involved in this study consist of 125 17 year old students from four SMK schools and 125 students from three SMJK schools in Penang. Survey method was employed in the data collection. The quantitative data obtained was analysed using the SPSS. The research shows that there are significant differences between SMK and SMJK in terms of teachers’ teaching practice towards Basic Economics. The result of correlation analysis indicates that correlation between teachers’ teaching practice and the students’ achievement in SMK is significant unlike in SMJK.

The adoption of the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments in 1965 promoted a large number of new Chinese immigrants to the U.S., and created a new era of Chinese American society. With higer education standard, abundant economic finance, and professional training, most new Chinese immigrants developed quite a different way from the counterparts in ancient Chinatown and represented the open and pluralistic appearance. Accordingly, Monterey Park, being located in the suburbia of Los Angeles County, was built as the first Suburban Chinatown of U.S. in the late 1970s, then spread to San Gabriel Valley in 1980s. It soon became the archetype of Chinese American community's development and riveted wide attention. This article principally focuses on the trend of the Chinese American community development from Monterey Park to San Gabriel Valley in the period of 1965 to 2006, and discusses its migration, economic activity, participation in politics, and social-cultural aspects. This master thesis includes four major subjects. First, it explores the tendency that Chinese American community took shape from Monterey Park to San Gabriel Valley, then analyzes its demographic and social indexes. Second, it deals with the structure and prospect of Chinese economic region from Monterey Park to San Gabriel Valley, then expounds the outlook of the local Chinese real estate, banking, catering industry, retail industry, hotel industry and computer business as well as introduces important Chinese economic associations. Third, it initially concentrates on the rising facet of Chinese American political participation in Monterey Park, involving their hardship, turning point and achievement, then orderly broaches the political tide and challenge that Chinese American in San Gabriel Valley would face. Eventually, it emphasizes on the course of local Chinese adaption and identification into American society, accompanying with the advance of local Chinese schools, Chinese media, religious organizations, fellowship associations, and alumni associations in San Gabriel Valley to reflect the construction and vision of Chinese culture community.

Code-switching (CS) is one of the communicative strategies used in defining and structuring social relationships of speakers. In this study, we demonstrate how teachers perceive and employ CS in a Malaysian Chinese Independent School (MCIS) English classrooms to achieve communicative intents and to create a sense of belonging among students. Ethnography recording of classroom discourse and semi-structured interviews with seven English teachers were employed. The analysis reveals a noteworthy commitment that CS does not only act as a pedagogical tool but also as a means of facilitating interpersonal communication in class. &nbsp

This study examines parents’ sex discrimination through the perspectives of their children and its relationship to their daughter’s happiness and self-esteem. Questionnaires were collected from 805 secondary school students at eight Chinese Independent Schools in Malaysia. The results showed that perceived parental sex discrimination (PPSD) was negatively correlated with happiness and self-esteem. Importantly, this relationship only occurred among female but not male respondents. These results suggest that significantly negative psychological impact is possible due to PPSD, and, thus, the introduction of laws to ban the abuse of the sex-selection techniques is not enough to tackle this complicated phenomenon.

To solve the problem whether Flipped Classroom is suitable for the Chinese primary schools, this paper illustrates the concept and main idea of Flipped Classroom, then argues that there is great challenge to deeply carry out the Flipped Classroom in the Chinese primary schools, especially in developing the high quality education resources, building the online education platform and guaranteeing the learning quality of students before class. So this paper points out the essence of e-education, which includes exerting students' principal role to arouse their active learning, playing a guiding role of teachers to let students break through the cognitive obstacle and appropriately facilitating student's development by utilizing the zone of proximal development. Based on these mentioned points, it suggests that Chinese primary schools should apply to laws of education to explore the new educational reform supported by IT.

The North East Asia, geographically belongs to the sub-system in the East Asia, has once created the ”East Asian Community” which consists of China and its surrounding countries, as referred to ”Chinese World Empire” in this article. It popularized the Confucius thinking in term of culture, Suzerain-vassal System in politics, and Tribute Trade System in economy. In short, it was a China-center traditional regional integration in East Asia and also a life community with common culture value. Passed downward through the modern history, Japan, under this common culture value, promoted actively the ”Asianism” as well as the ”Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere”, which was once popular in the North East Asia but abandoned in WWⅡ. Meanwhile, the existing Chinese ”Universalism” and ”Chinese World Empire” in the East Asia were suppressed by Western influence to East and were succeeded by Japan afterward. The ”Chinese World Empire” was contained by the U.S. in the postwar period and encountered the crisis of the civil war. For the hundred years, it was merely self-protected. Therefore, the theory and practice of traditional eastern ”East Asian Community” were all collapsed. After WWⅡ, following by the defeat of Japan, Japanese style ”Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere” was buried in the ash. The defeated Japan, learned the lesson and protected by the U.S. military, revived its economy and became the economic great power, and a technology great power because of reinvestment in RD it might be less attractive comparing to the Chinese-blood relations and interests of abundant resources and huge market. The ”Allying U.S. to restrain China” of Japan could be defeated by the ”Alienating Japan to engage China” of Korea. But for the purpose of national survival, the rivalry status between state and state is the last choice. The regional political and economical integration, such as ”East Asia Free Trade Area” or ”East Asian Community”, is not only the temporal phenomenon, rather the vision for co-existence and prosperity among the nations in the future. To lead by ”Japan as No. 1” or ”Peaceful rising China” in the regional integration towards ”East Asian Free Trade Area” or ”East Asian Community”, it will be defined by the result of duel between China and Japan for hegemony. Whoever winning the leadership in the East Asia would share with U.S. of its world leadership, arrange the international order, break the status quo, and reach the 2050 new era described by Goldman Sachs. The voice for ”East Asian Free Trade Area” or ”East Asian Community” has already been spoken loudly. The East Asian nations are also on the way to organize the ”Community”. Those nations are not bounded to the idea of boundary and have to learn to abandon ”Exclusive Sovereignty”. With gradual concession to the coming ”Asian” era and the agreement of peace, equality, consensus, they will push the regional integration in East Asia and build a life community of fellow feeling ”State of East Asia”. Let the power struggle among nations limit to the leadership of ”East Asian Free Trade Area” or ”East Asian Community”. That is the imminent issue for the intellectuals to work on with all effort.

This thesis investigates three comprehensive research issues in the context of five selected Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) banking markets (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) during the period 1998-2010. This study is motivated by the extensive restructuring efforts that took place in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) which has shaped the banking behaviour in ASEAN countries to enable them to sustain their financial systems’ stability. As a result of the crisis, banks adopted several strategies in response to various structural and policy changes and, therefore, there were vast effects on banks’ behaviour following the AFC and pre and post the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) period. The first empirical study of this thesis investigates the impact of market power on credit risk, revenue diversification and bank stability. The findings suggest that bank market power is positively associated with credit risk and revenue diversification. Nevertheless, these associations diminished during the GFC, implying that banks with greater market power were able to better manage their non-performing loans during the crisis period. Bank stability, however, is not associated with market power. Instead, it is found to be a negative function of state-ownership, asset composition and banking freedom. Overall, even though ASEAN banks with greater market power have higher credit risk, they are more diversified thus leaving their overall bank risk unaffected. The second empirical study examines the association between net interest margin, revenue diversification and risk-adjusted profitability. The findings suggest a two-way association between net interest margin and revenue diversification. The results denote a significant inverse relationship in the period 1998-2002, indicating subsidisation between interest and fee-generating business in the aftermath of the crisis. For the latter part of the sample (2003-2010), a positive association has been reported for net interest margin and revenue diversification implying that non-interest income does not necessarily increase with the detriment of the net interest margin. The findings reveal that diversification benefits exist for the same sub-sample period i.e. after the Basel II regulations came into force around 2003. The results also suggest that in the aftermath of both crises, risk adjusted profitability declined as banks had limited scope to diversify their sources of revenue. Overall, ASEAN banks have evolved over time, moving from the worsening risk-return trade-off to the beginnings of the benefits of diversification. The third empirical study investigates the influence of the cost of deposits, market power and the business cycle on the bank capital buffer determination. The findings imply that the capital buffer is positively associated with the cost of deposits, bank market power and the business cycle. The findings indicate that the higher the cost of deposits and the greater their market power, banks tend to hold a greater capital buffer. Furthermore, the capital buffer can vary pro-cyclically with the business cycle suggesting that banks can increase their capital buffers by expanding through various lending during economic upturns which will provide opportunities for banks to make use of this excess capital during recessions. Further, the findings suggest that the banking sector can contribute to the performance of the economy if they hold sufficient buffers and retain a healthy flow of credit when the economy is in crisis. This analysis provides some insight into ASEAN banks’ response to Basel III, which indicates that these banks will find it much harder to comply with the new regulations. This study contributes to the literature through providing evidence of the ASEAN banks’ diverse responses in the aftermath of the AFC and pre- and post-GFC with regard to the research issues. In addition, this thesis adds to the limited, but fast growing, literature on bank market power by using an improved version of the Lerner index in the form of a Funding adjusted Lerner index. Regarding the methodology, unlike other studies, this thesis extends the literature by addressing endogeneity by employing the GMM method for estimation. In addition, this thesis is includes a broader set of bank-specific, country-specific and industry-specific determinants together to address the research issues. Apart from the academic contributions, this thesis offers several implications for bankers, shareholders and regulators. The regional focus of the analysis provides useful insights for ASEAN banks for future policy formulation involving bank market power, credit risk, revenue diversification, bank stability, net interest margin, cost of deposits and the business cycle, given the restructured banking system in the region.