A Survey on Chinese Sign Language Recognition:From Traditional Methods to Artificial Intelligence

Research on Chinese Sign Language(CSL)provides convenience and support for individuals with hearing impairments to communicate and integrate into society.This article reviews the relevant literature on Chinese Sign Language Recognition(CSLR)in the past 20 years.Hidden Markov Models(HMM),Support Vector Machines(SVM),and Dynamic Time Warping(DTW)were found to be the most commonly employed technologies among traditional identificationmethods.Benefiting from the rapid development of computer vision and artificial intelligence technology,Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN),3D-CNN,YOLO,Capsule Network(CapsNet)and various deep neural networks have sprung up.Deep Neural Networks(DNNs)and their derived models are integral tomodern artificial intelligence recognitionmethods.In addition,technologies thatwerewidely used in the early days have also been integrated and applied to specific hybrid models and customized identification methods.Sign language data collection includes acquiring data from data gloves,data sensors(such as Kinect,LeapMotion,etc.),and high-definition photography.Meanwhile,facial expression recognition,complex background processing,and 3D sign language recognition have also attracted research interests among scholars.Due to the uniqueness and complexity of Chinese sign language,accuracy,robustness,real-time performance,and user independence are significant challenges for future sign language recognition research.Additionally,suitable datasets and evaluation criteria are also worth pursuing.

Word order and thinking mode of English and Chinese languages

This article aims to analyze the difference of word order between English and Chinese languages after making a constructive study of them and concludes that it is the reflection of different thinking characteristics of the two nationalities. The difference of history development, cultural tradition, social economy and geographic environment naturally produces the thinking mode with the national features. The different features certainly influence the language expression. It is because language is not only the main carrier of thinking but also the important expression form. So to well study the features of thinking mode is of great importance to translation, foreign language teaching and cross-cultural communication.

Intercultural Language Education and the Challenges Chinese College English Teachers Face

Currently,intercultural language education is a topic which receives much interest due to the rise of globalization,but theories and practice in this field are on the preliminary stage of development in China.To understand ILE better,its background,theory basis,goals,related researches are reviewed and analyzed.Since ILE is relatively new in China,language teachers are facing new challenges in developing intercultural teaching competence to achieve the success of language education.Such challenges consist of understanding the language itself,the difficulty in understanding and teaching culture,designing practical classroom activities and selecting content.

Critical Pedagogy and Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Chinese College Context

In the field of second language acquisition(SLA),weight has been increasingly attached to the role that a problem-pos ing model of education plays in English as second/foreign language(ES/FL)teaching and learning.By exploring various concepts of the problem-posing approach,also known as critical pedagogy,and its implications for English language teaching(ELT)in the Chinese postsecondary EFL context,the paper makes a tentative attempt to acknowledge the future directions of implementing critical pedagogy in the EFL context.Therefore,the paper is inspired by the ever-increasing popularity of the critical pedagogical approach in the ESL context.The application of critical orientation in language education derives from critical theories of the Frankfurt School,which centers on Marxist societal beliefs of struggling against social inequalities.With the concept of critical pedagogy drawing increasing attention from language educators and teachers alike in English-speaking countries;non-native English teachers who teach in the EFL context has also begun to focus their attention on the educational philosophy as a means to help transform traditional oppressed status of the Chinese EFL learners.From this perspective,this paper,by investigating the multi-dimensional implied meanings of implementing critical pedagogy in the EFL context,unraveling how it works as a way of"doing"in second language(L2)teaching and learning,identifying the probable contexts of critical pedagogy and the contesta tions surrounding critical pedagogy,aims to address the significance of implementing critical pedagogy as an effective way of re forming the ailing English education condition in China.

Challenges and Countermeasures in Integrating Chinese Traditional Culture into English Listening and Speaking Course

Foreign language education involves not only language education but also cultural education.It is the new mission of today’s foreign language education to integrate Chinese traditional culture into foreign language teaching and cultivate foreign language talents who can tell Chinese stories well and spread Chinese voice.As a basic course for English majors,English Listening and Speaking faces many challenges when it is integrated into Chinese traditional culture,such as complex teaching content,limited teaching resources,insufficient teachers’literacy,and students’listening and speaking difficulties.In order to solve these problems,teachers and universities should work together to sort out the connotation of Chinese traditional culture,develop audio-visual teaching materials,organize teacher training,and innovate teaching methods,so as to effectively promote the connection between Chinese traditional culture and English Listening and Speaking curriculum system.

An Optimized Convolutional Neural Network with Combination Blocks for Chinese Sign Language Identification

(Aim)Chinese sign language is an essential tool for hearing-impaired to live,learn and communicate in deaf communities.Moreover,Chinese sign language plays a significant role in speech therapy and rehabilitation.Chinese sign language identification can provide convenience for those hearing impaired people and eliminate the communication barrier between the deaf community and the rest of society.Similar to the research of many biomedical image processing(such as automatic chest radiograph processing,diagnosis of chest radiological images,etc.),with the rapid development of artificial intelligence,especially deep learning technologies and algorithms,sign language image recognition ushered in the spring.This study aims to propose a novel sign language image recognition method based on an optimized convolutional neural network.(Method)Three different combinations of blocks:Conv-BN-ReLU-Pooling,Conv-BN-ReLU,Conv-BN-ReLU-BN were employed,including some advanced technologies such as batch normalization,dropout,and Leaky ReLU.We proposed an optimized convolutional neural network to identify 1320 sign language images,which was called as CNN-CB method.Totally ten runs were implemented with the hold-out randomly set for each run.(Results)The results indicate that our CNN-CB method gained an overall accuracy of 94.88±0.99%.(Conclusion)Our CNN-CB method is superior to thirteen state-of-the-art methods:eight traditional machine learning approaches and five modern convolutional neural network approaches.

Learner Autonomy in the National English Language Curricula for Chinese Universities 1978-2007:A Historical Analysis

This historical study investigates the concept of learner autonomy in the national English language curricula for Chinese universities.It seeks to understand the meaning of learner autonomy in China and the intentionality of promoting this concept through the curricula from 1978 to 2007.By adopting Quentin Skinner’s intentionalist approach to analyzing the history of ideas,this study conducted a systematic document analysis of three national curricula in relation to their linguistic and practical contexts constituted of 169 Chinese academic articles in total.The study revealed that learner autonomy mainly referred to students’motivation and ability to work hard on their own outside the classroom in the Chinese context.Importing this concept,however,caused ideological confusion and exacerbated the disempowerment of teachers within the dynamics of China’s English language education at the tertiary level.The study raises awareness for borrowing concepts across different cultural contexts and has implications for research,policymaking,teacher development,and pedagogical practice in second language education in China.

The Perceptions of Chinese ELT Stakeholders on the Employment of Foreign English Language Teachers

This article reports on part of the findings of an investigation into the perceptions of Chinese English as a foreign language(EFL)education stakeholders on native-speakerism.Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with 26 students,14 teachers and eight EFL program administrators from six Chinese universities.The analysis of data reveals that the three groups of participants as an entirety expected their universities to hire native English speaker teachers(NESTs),particularly those from Britain and/or America and a certain proportion of them expressed preference for white native English speaker(NES)teachers.The vast majority of the students and teachers were also found to be unaware of workplace inequalities between NNESTs and local Chinese EFL teachers,contending that NESTs deserve better treatment.Although many administrators displayed critical awareness on this issue,they argued that the inequalities need tolerating for the well-being of their EFL programs.All these findings are indicative of the persistence of native-speakerism among Chinese ELT stakeholders and by extension the tenacity of this chauvinistic ideology across the terrain of EFL education in China.

Macroscopic Contrast of English,Chinese and the Shui Language Syntactic Features and Thought Patterns

This paper is to explore the syntactic features and thought patterns among English,Chinese and the Shui language,discussing this topic from macroscopic,giving a brief contrast and comparison on macroscopic of English,Chinese and the Shui language.

On Errors in Chinese-English Translation of Public Signs

With more attentions being paid to the research of the Chinese-English translation of public signs,errors and mistakes can be frequently observed in some places and occasions due to different cultural backgrounds as well as diversified function of public signs.For that reason,the author venture to analyses the problems existing in Chinese-English translation of public signs on the level of linguistic and culture such as spelling errors,harsh tones and so on.Meanwhile the author offer some strategies and principles of translation based on the communicative translation method and as well as the quality of translators perspectives,including the methods of functional priority,of utilization of Pin Yin and so on,hoping to optimize the quality of the public signs translation so as to publicize China and promote the image of China and arose the attention and awareness of the translators.

A Study Of The Chinese Language And Culture In The English Language

Language, as a special form of culture, will develop itself by absorbing the valuable elements from other cultures and languages. This essay will mainly concentrate on some English slang words, colloquial usages concerning Chinese culture.

Interlanguage Fossilization in Chinese EFL Writing --An Empirical Research of 20 English Major Students

This research is designed to investigate interlanguage fossilization in Chinese college students＇ written output. Twelve common linguistic errors from 20 Chinese EFL （English as a foreign language） learners＇ writing assignments are observed. Results show that among 12 typical errors, five types of errors are declining while the rest are increasing, indicating a tendency towards fossilization. Analysis shows that negative/corrective feedback has played a key role in reducing fossilization of some errors, but it does not work in every case. Some errors tend to be fossilized for several reasons. First, language items that do not have a direct form-function relationship are likely to be fossilized. Second, advanced learners create their own language system and neglect the basic rules of grammar. Third, task difficulty takes learners＇ attention away from form to meaning. Fourth, ingrained thinking patterns have a great impact on how learners organize their thoughts in writing. It is true that many Chinese EFL advanced learners reach a plateau in the process of acquiring English. However, attention, consciousness, and training of self-monitoring ability will help destabilize their interlanguage system.

An Empirical Study on the Effectiveness of Language Learning Strategy Training for Chinese Adult English Learners

This paper explores how to implement effective strategy training for part-time Chinese adult English learners in a tertiary FLT （Foreign Language Teaching） classroom. Through a study of threx~ semesters during which six sessions of learner training workshops and constant, integrated task-based instruction were carried out, empirical evidence was collected via the instrument of questionnaires, interviews, learners＇ regular written reports, and the findings indicate that： （1） The students reported a statistically significant increase of the overaU average frequency of language strategy use over all SILL （The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning） items with 2.95 at the beginning and 3.61 at the end; and （2） Well-organized, explicit, and discrete leaner training workshops combined with frequent, explicit, and integrated task-based strategy instruction are an effective and helpful way to improve learners＇ awareness, selection, and frequency of strategy use, which can further foster learner autonomy.

Research on the Gender Discrimination Phenomenon and the Primary Cause in English and Chinese Language

In this paper, we conduct research on the gender discrimination phenomenon and the primary cause in English and Chinese language. Language is a social phenomenon, so the restriction of the society but the culture is the foundation of the survival and development of human society cannot leave the culture at the same time. Due to physiological differences, men in the social practice play a more important role than woman burdened with a family. We analyze the gender discrimination phenomenon from different unique perspective to eventually understand the mechanism. In the future, we will combine the literature review to modify our proposed methodology.

A Contrastive Study on Mark Phenomena of English and Chinese Languages

Linguistic marker is a common phenomenon, and there are different levels of markers in various languages. Mark theory was first proposed by the Prague School in 1930s, which is an important principle of language analysis system. The function and meaning of markup languages are mainly pragmatic, which have procedural meaning and no conceptual meaning. Markedness phenomenon is not only the inherent characteristics of language symbols, but also the product of social life and different cultures. Due to the great difference between cultural background and social environment of Chinese and English speaker, thus there are many similarities and differences in the language, society and culture mark. The mark phenomena of English nouns are mainly related to the category of nouns and the opposite nouns. However, Chinese nouns have no strict morphological changes. In this paper, we discuss the theory of mark phenomenon and analyze a contrastive study on mark phenomena of English and Chinese Languages.

Communicative Language Teaching(CLT) in the English Course of A Chinese University

CLT as one of the learner-centred approaches,which has been widely used in classrooms all over the world.In the AsiaPacific Region,many schools adopt CLT as a main teaching approach,especially in East Asian countries(e.g.,China,Japan and Korea).In fact,CLT attracts thousands of scholars and researchers at home and abroad.This paper research on CLT in English classrooms of Chinese university from the Chinese teachers'opinions,the Chinese EFL students'attitudes and the Chinese government's position.Through the analysis,it is concluded that the CLT is suitable for college English classes in China,and the implementation of the CLT needs to be improved.

Body Language between Chinese and English in Intercultural Communication

As the economy and culture developing and globalizing so quickly, people have more opportunities to communicate with others who come from different cultures than before. Human communication system includes two parts, one is language communication system and the other is nonverbal communication system. Some researches show that in human's daily communication, 93% information is transmitted by nonverbal communication, among which, 55% information is transmitted by facial, gesture and so on; 38% information is transmitted by tone. So nonverbal communication is the main part of body language. But body language and culture have an inseparable relationship, some body languages are similarly in different cultures, and some have their own unique culture connotation.

A Contrastive Study of the Relationship between Language and Culture Exemplified in English and Chinese

This paper analyses the relationship between language and culture exemplified in English and Chinese.Language is not only a part of culture but also the carrier and container of culture.As a mirror of culture language is strongly influenced by culture.Language also exerts its influence on culture.Language and culture is closely related.

Analysis of Chinese/English Codeswitching on Network Language by Figure/ground Theory

With the rapid development of network language,more and more phenomena of Chinese/English Codeswitching appear in our daily communications.Codeswitching research of the network language is a new aspect in the linguistic field.The paper starts from cognitive perspective to discuss the process of Chinese/English Codeswitching by Figure/ground theory.

A Brief Description of Audio-Lingual Method and Discussion of its Advantages and Disadvantages vis-a-vis the English Language Teaching Situation in Chinese Middle Schools

With the development of reform and open policy, foreign languages become more and moreuseful. And how to teach a foreign language is an important matter. A lot of methods of teaching foreign languages have been developed. There’re grammar-trans-lation method, direct method, audio-lingual method, communicative method, etc. In this paper I in-