“They Have It Better There”:Chinese Immigrant Teachers’Beliefs,Ideologies and Imaginaries in Cross-National Comparisons

This paper was written in response to a growing need to address the perceptions and experiences of immigrant teachers.Based on a critical intercultural theoretical perspective,which moves beyond typical“culture shock”and“adaptation”models of understanding and explaining immigrants’experiences,this paper makes use of the concepts of teacher beliefs,ideologies and imaginaries(Holliday,2010)in considering how Finland-based Chinese immigrant teachers perceive the position of being teachers of Chinese in Finland and Australia.An analysis of data from group discussions during a teacher training workshop indicates that these teachers constructed a“utopia”(Australia)and“dystopia”(Finland)of Chinese language teaching,and reveals that multiple factors have influenced these immigrant teachers’perceptions and experiences.Findings provide information for teacher educators and stakeholders to better understand and support immigrant teachers from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

The New Chinese Immigrations in Laos Present-day

Laos was once unique in Southeast Asia for its remarkably small overseas Chinese communities. Most of them fled this country when the communist forces seized power in 1975. Since Laos opened its economy in 1986, the Chinese in Laos have been able to develop in many areas. Especially, the visit of Premier LI Peng to Vientiane in 1990 marked a turning point in China-Laos relations. Unlike Cambodia, the reawakening of a Chinese community in Laos did not come from the Huaqiao, this arose from a new cycle of immigrants, who started pouring into northern Laos in the late 1990s at an unprecedented scale. Compared with other Southeast Asian nations, the Chinese in Laos are less in number and weaker in economic power. In this study, we focus on （1） Analysis the ways of the new Chinese immigrants in Laos; （2） Assess the role of new Chinese immigrants in the process of China increasing their influence in Laos and how Laos response to this issue; and （3） The trend of new Chinese immigrants in Laos in the near future. Firstly, the rapid of Chinese investment to Laos in the last two decades is the most important factor driving the Chinese migrants into this country. The first new Chinese immigrants arrived in the mid-1990s as workers or technicians on road construction projects and as part of the industrial cooperation between Yunnan and the northern provinces of Laos. Since the 2000s, China has been pouring aid and investment into Laos. Chinese companies are involved in almost all areas of this country＇s economy, from hydropower to mining, agriculture, service, and hospitality. The increasing of Chinese exports, investment, aids and Chinese contracted project constructions in Laos led to mass Chinese immigrants going to Laos to work in all the economic sectors which the Chinese are involved in this country. Most of them chose to stay on and started their own businesses. Secondly, the wave of new Chinese immigrants in Laos helps Chinese government to relieve the pressure of solving jobs for their citizens. The semi-skilled and unskilled labor can go to Laos to work for the Chinese companies. Moreover, the outflow of petty traders has been prompted by the oversupply of certain goods in China as well as intense domestic competition. The investors also can find the better developing business opportunities. Although, the increasing of new Chinese immigrants make the local society change so much. Some Laotians feel cautious about the presence of so many Chinese people in Laos. Thirdly, with the increasing of Chinese＇s influence in Laos, especially in the economic, the position of the Chinese community in Laos will grow stronger in both quantity and economic and political status. Assessing the trend of increasing of new Chinese immigrations in Laos and the growth of the Chinese community are seen by the Laos government creating favorable conditions for China＇s investment, commercial activity, tourism activities, and cultural exchanges.

Parenting of Immigrant Chinese Families in Western Countries:A Systematic Review

Increasing numbers of studies have been done on parenting in Chinese immigrant families due to the growing population of Chinese immigrants in Western countries.This paper systematically reviews 35 peer-reviewed journal articles relevant to parenting in Chinese immigrant families,categorizing them into descriptive studies,simple explanatory studies,and dialectical and dynamic studies,and identifying their major findings and limitations.It finds that descriptive studies tend to describe parenting as a collection of static characteristics,and simple explanatory studies are likely to define parenting as an independent factor mechanically related to other factors.Thus these two types of studies are barely able to reveal the real essence of parenting in immigrant Chinese families.To solve the limitations of descriptive studies and simple explanatory studies,this paper argues for conducting dynamic and dialectical studies,which conceptualize parenting as a dynamic process dialectically related to cultural differences and other processes.

TCM in Canada:Health Care and the Importance of Alternative Medicines that Complement Medical Practice

This article explores the introduction and growth of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)through the lens of Chinese immigration to Canada.It further explores how it has spread to other cultural groups in Canada.Several theories are described to explain why it has attracted attention by non-Chinese ethnicities:the interest in organic and nature-based approaches,the underfunding health care,lack of family doctors,expensive drugs from big pharmaceutical companies,and respect for Chinese cultural practices.The regulatory practice of TCM is described along with the organization,types of educational program and certification as well as a patient’s perspective of TCM treatment.

Chinese Teachers’Professional Identity and Beliefs about the Teacher-Student Relationships in an Intercultural Context

This paper presents a qualitative study of immigrant Chinese teachers’professional identity and beliefs about the teacher-student relationship in an intercultural context.Theoretically,this study takes its departure from a sociocultural perspective on understanding professional identity.The empirical analysis in the study drew mainly upon ethnographic interviews with a group of Chinese language teachers in Denmark concerning their life experiences,perceptions,and beliefs.The results of this study suggest that teachers’beliefs about their roles as teachers and about student-teacher relationships are shaped by both their prior experiences and backgrounds and the current social and cultural contexts in which they are situated.Changes of context(e.g.,from China to Denmark)often lead to a transformation of their professional identity and beliefs.Being a teacher in an intercultural context often exposes them to the confrontation of diverse challenges and dilemmas.On one hand,teachers in this study generally experienced a transformation from being a moral role model,subject expert,authority and parental role to being a learning facilitator and culture worker.On the other hand,they developed diverse individualized coping strategies to handle student-teacher interactions and other aspects of teachers’professional identity.

Tung Pok Chin： A Paper Son Poet in New York

Classical-style poetry is a neglected genre in the study of Chinese American literature. Except for the Angel Island Poetry and the Songs of Gold Mountain （Jinshan geji 金山歌集）, no substantial research has been done on the enormous amount of classical-style poems published in San Francisco and New York. This article attempts to explore this uncharted territory by examining the poetry of Tung Pok Chin 陈松柏 （1916-88, aka Lai Bing Chan 黎屏尘） and his story as a Chinese immigrant. Chin moved to the United States in 1934 as a paper son. He joined the American navy during World War II and eventually established his own laundry business in Brooklyn. Since the late 1940s, Chin published a significant amount of his classical-style poetry in the China Daily News （Meizhou huaqiao ribao 美洲华侨日报）, a left-wing newspaper operated by the pro-communist Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance. With the help of his daughter, he also wrote a memoir in English narrating his assimilation into American society. His poetry, though not particularly refined, similarly records his experiences and comments regarding American life and politics. Based on the source materials found in the Tung Pok Chin Papers archived in New York University, his memoir, and the poems he published in the China Daily News, herein I illuminate how Chin adopted a traditional form of poetry as his expressive vehicle and, with the narrative power of his English memoir, how he used his poems to construct a social identity. The article also relates Chin＇s work to the broader context of Asian American studies, as well as the classical poetry community and its development in New York, and ponders his significances in the history of Chinese American literature.