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Due to the lack of life experience and situational experience, it is difficult to arouse pupils' inner motivation and interest in writing. Therefore, the early stage of Chinese writing may be a challenge for Chinese pupils. In order to solve this problem, a spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) experience learning system was developed to help pupils improve their writing performance and interest. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was carried out in a primary school in Zhejiang province, China. First, a writing pretest was administered in two grade 4 classes. The researchers then randomly selected 40 pupils of about 10 years old with similar writing abilities, and assigned them to an experimental group, which used the SVVR learning method, and a control group, which used the traditional learning method. The researchers observed and recorded the pupils' writing process and then, interviewed them. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the comprehensive writing performance of the two groups (F = 6.272; p = 0.017 < 0.05). The mean of the experimental group (Mean = 73.85) was higher than that of the control group (Mean = 70.00). Moreover, there were significant differences between the two groups in terms of the thematic coherence, structural integrity and linguistic expressiveness of their writing performance. However, there was no significant difference in the achievement of creative thinking. In the experimental group, different levels of learning behavior engagement could affect the structural integrity and language expression of writing achievements, and the degree of writing learning behavior engagement was highly correlated with reading time. Through the interviews, it was found that the pupils in the experimental group were more satisfied with the SVVR learning method than the control group pupils were with the traditional learning method.

Due to the lack of life experience and situational experience, it is difficult to arouse pupils' inner motivation and interest in writing. Therefore, the early stage of Chinese writing may be a challenge for Chinese pupils. In order to solve this problem, a spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) experience learning system was developed to help pupils improve their writing performance and interest. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an experiment was carried out in a primary school in Zhejiang province, China. First, a writing pretest was administered in two grade 4 classes. The researchers then randomly selected 40 pupils of about 10 years old with similar writing abilities, and assigned them to an experimental group, which used the SVVR learning method, and a control group, which used the traditional learning method. The researchers observed and recorded the pupils' writing process and then, interviewed them. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the comprehensive writing performance of the two groups (F = 6.272; p =.017 <.05). The mean of the experimental group (Mean = 73.85) was higher than that of the control group (Mean = 70.00). Moreover, there were significant differences between the two groups in terms of the thematic coherence, structural integrity and linguistic expressiveness of their writing performance. However, there was no significant difference in the achievement of creative thinking. In the experimental group, different levels of learning behavior engagement could affect the structural integrity and language expression of writing achievements, and the degree of writing learning behavior engagement was highly correlated with reading time. Through the interviews, it was found that the pupils in the experimental group were more satisfied with the SVVR learning method than the control group pupils were with the traditional learning method. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic? Spherical video‐based virtual reality (SVVR) set a simulated environment enabling students to have in‐depth experience in learning contexts.Most SVVR studies focused on speaking and writing in middle schools and colleges, while its impacts on young children's writing performance is generally ignored.What this paper adds? An SVVR system based on experiencing learning theory was developed to promote young students' in‐depth experience and perception in descriptive paper writing.The proposed approach promoted students' writing performances, writing experience and learning behavior engagement.Implications for practice and/or policy SVVR is a potential technology for implementing experiential learning activities, especially in improving thematic coherence, structural integrity and linguistic expressiveness.It is worth promoting such a low‐tech and low‐cost experiential learning approach to other courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a analysis of quantitative and qualitative dimensions of global research output (3488 records) on "Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Adolescents", based on indexed publications in Scopus database. The global publications on this theme averaged 8.31 citations per paper. About 1.49% share of its total publications in this area received external funding support. The 145 countries partcipitated in global research output on "Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Adults", of which the top 10 countries accounted for 85.21% and more than 100% share of global publications and citations. The USA, U.K. and Italy leads in global publications ranking and productivity as against China (3.16), U.K (1.28) and USA (1.27) leading in terms of relative of relative citation index. The 412 organizations and 661 authors participated in global research on this theme, with top 15 most productive organizations and authors contributing 21.07% and 4.30% global publications share and 38.05% and 12.98% global citations share. Harvard Medical School, USA, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China and Tongji Medical College, China leads the world as the most productive organizatons (with 480, 67 and 63 publications) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China (31.97 and 3.85), Tongji Medical College, China (19.92 and 2.40) and Children Hospital of Philadelphia, USA (19.30 and 2.32) leading as the most impactful organizations in the world in terms of citation per paper and relative citation index. D.Buonsensov, C.Calvo and X. Lu were the most productive authors (with 15, 12 and 12 papers) and X.Lu (103.83 and 12.49), A. Licari ( 40.11 and 4.83) and G.L. Marseglia( 34.09 and 4.1) were the most impactful authors. JAMA Pediatrics, Pediatrics Infectious Disease Journal and Acta Paediatrica International Journal of Pediatrics were the most productive journals (with 71, 60 and 58 papers) and Pediatrics (36.59, JAMA Pediatrics (19.49) and Acta Paediatrica International Journal of Pediatrics (14.93) were the most impactful journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated how production task combined with teacher feedback (in the form of recasts) affects child second language development, and the effects of task complexity on their production performance. 92 child learners of English in three intact classes were assigned to three tasks of different complexity (simple, +complex, ++complex). In response to errors in the use of the present third person singular verb forms, participants received the feedback of recasts. L2 development was measured through oral production and written tests. Results show that recasts are effective for learning the target form, and there is a negative correlation between task complexity and child learners' acquisition of linguistic target in their written production, but no significant correlation was found between task complexity and participants' oral production. The results confirm Skehan's limited attention capacity prediction, and can be explained from the cognitive development level of the participants and their English learning habits. Implications for pedagogy and future research are discussed.

Cross-border education is defined as the movement of people, knowledge, programs, providers, and curriculums across national or regional jurisdictional borders. Each year, millions of students access better education by crossing their national borders from less developed or newly-industrialized countries to Western, industrialised countries. Most are tertiary education students but the numbers engaged in secondary, primary, and pre-school education are also significant. Under the implementation of "one country two systems" in Hong Kong after the transition of sovereignty from Britain to China in 1997, and a decision of a case in The Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong in 2011, babies born in Hong Kong to mainland Chinese parents are entitled to the right of abode in Hong Kong. Since then, tens of thousands of such births have occurred. More than 20,000 cross-border students travel from China to attend public schools in Hong Kong every day. This paper explores equality issues faced by these students. The paper evaluates the results of various stakeholders working together to solve important issues; for example, dedicated school zones, immigration clearance services, setting up Hong Kong classes in Chinese schools, and language, communication, and cultural support. The paper argues that inequality is prevalent.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of the weight of a backpack as represented in typical Chinese children's songs through a kind of phenomenological approach. Design/Approach/Methods: The core issue pertaining to Chinese children's songs about backpacks is how the weight sense of backpacks is generated and developed in the field of song phenomenology. Findings: The "whatness" of a backpack in typical songs has varied over the past six decades, meanwhile, the backpack and its songs conceal not only the secrets of childhood but also those of China's educational system. Originality/Value: The originality of this paper embodies the unique perspective to provide a new insight into the current scholarship of the micro-politics of song-singing and the weight sense of backpack.

The article discusses a study by F. Zhang and colleagues which reported 20-metre shuttle run test (20mSRT) scores from Chinese school students. Topics include caution against the use of fallacious methods of estimating and interpreting the peak VO2 of children and adolescents, an appreciation for the researchers for raising the profile of pediatric health and well-being in China, and suggestions for researchers in China and elsewhere.

Digital reading is now an important way for children to read. This article defines the concept of children's digital reading based on the current situation, reading needs, and research progress of reading promotion methods. Aiming at the problem that only simple matching method is used for entity extraction in BAG model, this paper proposes an entity extraction method based on reference words and an entity graph construction method based on problem-related entities. Experiments on data sets verify the effectiveness of the model. The results show that the BAG model is improved by 2.4% on the verification set and 4.1% on the test set, which proves the effectiveness of the improved method. Based on the graph convolution algorithm of the central node, the local subgraph convolution and the global graph convolution are connected in the entity graph behind the central node, so that the model can obtain local and global information at the same time and enhance the reasoning ability of the model.

Nine papers are presented that focus on the Raven Progressive Matrices tests. An overview of research on the Progressive Matrices; a review of international norming studies; recent data from China, Hong Kong, Brazil, New Zealand, and Australia; and a comparison of data for retarded and nonretarded children are presented. (SLD)

There are many contradictions in previous studies of the status of depressive symptoms among Chinese migrant children, the number of which in the compulsory education stage is about 13.9 million. This systematic review and meta-analysis were designed to compare depressive symptoms among migrant children and their urban children. Around 2,710 papers were retrieved from PubMed, OVID, the Web of Knowledge, CNKI, Wan Fang, Chongqing VIP, and Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index on January 27, 2020. Thirty-Two studies met study criteria with 14,906 migrant children and 10,792 urban children. Migrant children scored significantly higher for depressive symptoms score (SMD = 0.307, 95% CI [0.222, 0.393]). Region significantly influenced the difference of depressive symptoms between migrant children and urban children. Large effect sizes came from studies using scales that focus on depressive mood while studies using scales that focus on depressive behavioural symptoms had small effect sizes. Future research should focus on treatments to decrease depressive mood of migrant children. Future studies can add information about the length of their current stay in the urban location to improve the quality of study. PROSPERO registry: Systematic review registration no. CRD42018090676.

English has become the medium for communication in so many areas, and children are the hope of the future and shoulder the duties to structure the future. Children's English becomes more important and spreads all over the world, especially in recent years. The children's English is not perfect and it exists its own disadvantages, so this paper gives four Optimizations and suggestions in teaching children's English in order to solve the problem. Then it lists several relations to the children's English study, and these four relations are very important because they are the keys to lead the children's English to a healthy and developing road. And in the next chapter, it talks about the trends of the children's English in the future and lists the reasons why these kinds of trends appear. At last, overlook the whole paper and give a conclusion, which show that the children's English has a great potentiality in the future in China.

An improvement in cognitive performance through brain games play is implicit yet progressive. It is necessary to explore factors that potentially accelerate this improvement process. Like various other significant yet unexplored aspects, it is equally essential to establish a performative (fusion of accuracy and efficiency) insight about players' cognition (memory, vision, and analytics) among the different modes of brain games. This paper presents empirical research that investigates the impact of different modes of brain games (single vs. multiplayer) upon the players' cognitive performance. An accumulated result of the research revealed that the cognitive performance in memory stimulating and visual activity-oriented brain games play significantly boosts during multiplayer mode. Similarly, cognitive accuracy in analytical brain gameplay also increases during the multiplayer mode; however, it's rather inefficient. In addition, both the components of cognitive performance in single-player mode are reported as negatively correlated, while in the multiplayer mode it's rather contrary.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA)-based intervention is typically utilized to support children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which has been widely used across the world. However, little is known about the current extent of the utilization of applied behavior analysis for children with autism in China. This paper provides a systematic review on the ABA-based intervention studies conducted in Mainland China. Studies published in Chinese and English journals were included, and 35 empirical studies qualified for the selection criteria were analyzed. The results suggest that the Chinese ABA-based programs are generally effective. Among the overall publications on the ABA-based intervention, there is a limited number of empirical studies, but this type of studies increases in recent years. In addition, one characteristic of the Chinese programs is that parental involvement is emphasized. The review also reveals the wide use of non-behavioral eclectic methods and the limit in the experimental design in some Chinese studies. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

This paper reviews how income inequality at the micro and regional levels influenced the inequality in educational outcomes for children and adolescents in China over the past decades. First, we find that the economic condition of the family influences children's and adolescents' education through home educational resources and parental involvement. Second, income disparity is significantly correlated with the regional differences in educational outcomes. Finally, the differences in the development of child and adolescent education between different regions are mainly due to the uneven distribution of educational resources, which is closely related to the public education financing system and local economic development.

This paper explores the relationship between girls' schooling and empowerment in western China in the first decade of the 21st century. This paper adopted a capability-empowerment framework based on Sen's capability approach into which were integrated concepts by Bourdieu, Appadurai, Nussbaum, Kabeer, and Unterhalter, to help to understand the tenacity with which village girls pursued schooling. In interviews with a group of 23 girls and young women, several valued functionings of intrinsic capability sets in the freedom dimensions of well-being and agency and their association with rising levels of school attainment were found. The girls were found to be gaining empowering capabilities through schooling, but that these were not equally distributed, neatly slicing the group into two sharply defined groups with different life paths. One set dropped out in the middle school years with a smaller set of empowerment capabilities to work in low-skilled jobs in cities, which offered them new places to change. The other set remained in school longer to achieve a larger set of empowering functionings that they converted into more substantive freedoms in a variety of settings.

Experiential learning pedagogy is taking a lead in the development of graduate attributes and educational aims as these are of prime importance for society. This paper shows a community service experiential project conducted in China. The project enabled students to serve the affected community in a post-earthquake area by applying their knowledge and skills. This paper documented the students' learning process from their project goals, pre-trip preparations, work progress, obstacles encountered to the final results and reflections. Using the data gathered from a focus group interview approach, the four components of Kolb's learning cycle, the concrete experience, reflection observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation, have been shown to transform and internalise student's learning experience, achieving a variety of learning outcomes. The author will also explore how this community service type of experiential learning in the engineering discipline allowed students to experience deep learning and develop their graduate attributes. (Contains 1 figure.)

This paper examines the pro-science and technology discourse constructed in Chinese language textbooks currently used for primary school students nationwide in China. By applying analytical techniques of critical discourse analysis (CDA), the paper critically investigates how the discourse is constructed and what ideological forces are manifested in the textbooks. More specifically, it analyses how textual features, such as lexical choices, grammatical elements and generic structures, are manipulated in the construction of a version of science and technology written for the child reader. Further, the article explores how the discourse positions child readers to read in ways that the discourse is constructed, and concludes that the discourse serves the interest of the government and its cultural elites but not the interests of the child reader.

This paper is a research in the second Language acquisition (SLA) with its focus on the role of input, interaction and output in the development of oral fluency in the EFL context from both a theoretical point of view and a case study. Two instruments were used: tests of oral fluency and face-to-face interviews. The findings showed that non-native oral fluency could be obtained through efficient and effective input, interaction and output in EFL while on the other hand they suggested answers to the question why most Chinese English learners failed to speak English fluently, namely lacking effective input and output, having no real need for interaction, attaching too much importance to language forms and written tests.

Based on empirical research and qualitative analysis, this paper aims to explore the effects of L1 use on L2 vocabulary teaching. The results show that, during L2 vocabulary teaching process, the proper application of L1 can effectively facilitate the memorization of new words, and the bilingual method (both English explanation and Chinese translation) is welcomed by most subjects. Therefore, the use L1 as a means of semantization or as a tool for checking and validating L2 learners' understanding of word meaning should not be completely rejected, especially for adult Chinese EFL learners.

Background: Training parents to implement language and communication intervention strategies is an effective approach to promote language development for children with language delay. Aims: This study introduces an online parent training program conducted in Hubei province, China, which was designed to help parents of language‐delayed children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental language disorder (DLD) or global developmental delay (GDD) apply language intervention strategies into daily interactions and promote their children's language development at home. Methods & Procedures: The Bethel Hearing and Speaking Training Center Family Training for Early Communication & Language Development (Bethel Family Training Program, BFT) (Bethel HSTC, 2020) was designed to improve the language and communication skills for children with language delay in a naturalistic way. The caregivers (including parents, grandparents and other main caregivers) participated in an 8‐h online program, including lectures on milestones in child language development, common misunderstandings of child language development, and three basic family language intervention strategies ('Looking together, playing together, and talking together') incorporating active learning through video analysis and discussion. Tongji Hospital in Hubei then continued with 3 months of online home intervention monitoring to all the caregivers via weekly online Q&As led by BFT certified speech therapists' team. The Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) was carried out before the online parent training program and after the 3‐month online home intervention monitoring. Outcomes & Results: 146 families whose children aged 12–68 months with language delay participated in the online training program. The results of the GDS assessments conducted before and after the program showed that not only did the developmental quotient (DQ) of language improve, but so did the DQ of social behaviour and adaptive behaviour (p < 0.001). There is no between‐group difference in the application of three strategies between the ASD group and the DLD or GDD group (p > 0.05). Furthermore, both caregivers' ability to apply 'looking together, playing together, talking together' strategies and the effective interaction time played important roles in improving the child's language abilities. Conclusion & Implications: The online parent training focusing on improving daily interaction with children through speech–language stimulation strategies promoted the development of language skills. It is an economic and practical approach for children with language delay who have limited access to local language intervention programs. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: Parent‐implemented language intervention is an effective approach at improving children's language development. Telepractice is an appropriate model of service delivery for audiologists and speech–language therapists and may be the primary mode of service delivery or may supplement in‐person services. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge: This paper explores the effectiveness of an online parent training program and provides new evidence that online training on language support strategies (looking together, playing together, talking together) followed by home intervention monitoring works for Mandarin‐speaking children and it is equally effective for children with ASD and non‐ASD diagnosis. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Developmental behavioural paediatricians and speech–language therapists in countries and areas that lack sufficient training resource for every child will have the option to deliver parent training and home intervention monitoring online, which will save time and cost considerably while offering convenience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Lidcombe Program is a stuttering treatment approach for children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. Most papers about the Lidcombe Program, however, are based on studies conducted in native English-speaking countries. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the delivery and implementation of the Lidcombe Program in non-native English-speaking countries. Summary: A resource search was conducted between October and November 2019. Scopus, PubMed, ASHA, Cochrane Library, ERIC, Google Scholar, and SpeechBITE databases and reference lists of relevant papers were searched for the identification process. Joanna Briggs Institute tools were used for the appraisal of the studies. The search yielded 8 studies conducted in non-native English-speaking countries. The Lidcombe Program is efficacious in non-native English-speaking countries when delivered to both preschool and young school age children who stutter. It is reported to be delivered with minor changes and challenges. The number of weekly clinic visits and the total time needed to reach zero or near-zero stuttering levels with the Lidcombe Program can be up to 3 times greater in non-native English-speaking countries than in native English-speaking countries, mostly due to the increased time needed to introduce the parental verbal contingencies. Key Messages: Speech and language therapists practicing in non-native English-speaking countries are encouraged to use the Lidcombe Program for both preschool and young school age children who stutter, although this can take more time than that reported in native English-speaking countries. Further investigation to explore the therapy process with children and parents in non-native English-speaking countries is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws from a cross-cultural study of young children's arts curricula. The initial phase of the original study consisted of a comparison of the intended arts curriculum for 5–6 year old children in China and Australia. This was followed by a survey in Beijing exploring 88 contemporary early childhood educators' beliefs about children's arts education. A case study of the enacted curriculum took place across three kindergartens in Beijing. The data was coded and analysed using grounded theory methodology. The research presented in this paper reported a diverse understanding of children's creativity among the participant EC educators; it revealed that a pedagogical dilemma of demonstration remains as a challenge to early childhood arts educators. This study provided qualitative descriptions and examples of Chinese Beijing children's arts education in this era of globalisation. Utilising Foucault's (1991. "Governmentality." In The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, edited by G. Burchell, C. Gordon, and P. Miller, translated by R. Braidotti, 87–104. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf) theory of governmentality as a critical lens to view the issues in this field, the study broadened perspectives regarding the education philosophy and practices of early childhood arts curriculum, in particular, for the cultivation of young children's creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the application of intergenerational theory as its analytical framework, this paper seeks to provide new insights into the social construction of sugar-sweetened food and food practices in the context of contemporary urban China, drawing on 16 months' in-depth qualitative research in the city of Chongqing. From an intergenerational perspective, it argues that although adults and children both typically construct sugar-sweetened food as "bad" for health based on the logic of its biological meaning, there are more generational differences in the understandings of sociocultural meanings associated with these foods, which are the main reasons may lead to intergenerational conflict. Caregivers tend to regard their control of children's sugar-sweetened food intake as a means to discipline their children's bodies and develop food moralities. However, children themselves are likely to perform sugar-sweetened food practices as a way of socializing and sometimes resisting the control of caregivers. Based on this, this paper further shows that these diverse views are rooted in the tension between caregivers' anxiety about the transmission of food moralities through intensive parenting practices and children's agency in food consumption in contemporary urban China. These findings enhance intergenerational-theoretical research and highlight the need to move beyond the analytical framework of "behaviour change" in related food and health studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specific language impairment (SLI) and dyslexia are found to co-occur in school-aged children learning Chinese, a non-alphabetic language (Wong, Kidd, Ho, & Au in "Sci Stud Read" 14:30--57, 2010). This paper examined the "Distinct" hypothesis--that SLI and dyslexia have different cognitive deficits and behavioural manifestations (e.g., Catts, Adolf, Hogan, & Weismer in "J Speech Lang Hear Res" 48:1378-1396, 2005) in Chinese children in Primary 1. Ninety-four six- to seven-year-old Chinese children completed a norm-referenced test for oral language and for literacy, as well as cognitive tasks related to reading development. Based on results from the norm-referenced tests, 40 children fell in the typically-developing Control group, 10 children in the dyslexia-only (D) group, 19 in the SLI-only group and 25 children in the SLI-D group. Orthographic skills and lexical access and retrieval skills were found to be associated with dyslexia. Phonological memory and morphological awareness were associated with SLI. Phonological awareness was associated with both SLI and dyslexia. SLI and dyslexia in Chinese did not seem to be distinct disorders as they were both characterized by a deficit in phonological awareness. Implications for clinical practice were discussed.

Schools in China and elsewhere are starting to teach English as a second language or foreign language (FL) to students at increasingly earlier ages. Although young learners (YLs), due to their developmental stage, are likely to be particularly susceptible to the influence of parents, parents' roles in YLs' motivation to learn English as an FL is not well understood. Moreover, we don't fully understand why YLs lose their motivation to learn English by their upper elementary school years. Using self-determination theory, this study examined how parents' socio-economic status (SES) and behaviours and beliefs about their children's English education influenced children's motivation to learn English in China. The participants were 198 fourth-, 191 sixth- and 183 eighth-grade students and their parents. Data were gathered using a series of surveys distributed to all the students and their parents, as well as interviews with 96 focus group students. Parents had substantial but varying influences on their children's motivation, depending on their SES backgrounds and their children's grade level. Whereas higher SES parents adjusted their behaviours according to their children's changing needs, lower SES parents tended to remain controlling and often failed to foster their children's self-competence and self-determined motivation. Higher SES parents' abilities to provide their children with greater opportunities to use English outside of school were increasingly advantageous for the children's development of self-determined motivation as their grade level increased.

Neoliberalism, as an ideology that valorizes and institutionalizes market-based freedom and individual entrepreneurship, derives from the logic of highly advanced capitalism, and thus must be understood in relation to the material conditions of our capitalist economy. One such material condition is space. However, the intersection of space and neoliberalism is yet to be explored in detail within the field of applied linguistics. This lacuna impedes our understanding of the social and geographical embeddedness of language, in particular the dialectic between language learning and political economy. The key question we address in this paper is: how are trajectories of language learning under the neoliberal economy shaped in spatial terms? Through looking at two cases--the re-invention of the countryside village of Yangshuo as the biggest English corner in China and the Korean phenomena of "jogi yuhak" [early study abroad]--we argue 1) that a heightened awareness of the link between language learning, space, and mobility will allow us to explore the material constraints and inequalities of language learning with greater sensitivity, and 2) that a focus on the spatial grounding of language learning can allow applied linguistics to make a unique contribution to the critique of neoliberalism.

In a recent keynote speech Paul Standish noted "there is agreement in judgments. But how the response to those judgments is realised is always cultural" (paper presented to PESA Conference, Taiwan, 2012, p. 2). Making judgments about what constitutes "crisis" for children is not necessarily agreed universally, though clearly there are some commonalities across many countries, as evident in United Nations on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) agreements. This article examines the local rhetoric and reality of "crisis" for children in countries across the world. What constitutes a crisis for children, and how this plays out in the contexts of nine countries is explored by the authors based on the insights of each countries' (OMEP) (www.omep.org.gu.se) Chapter representatives. Policies will be juxtaposed with provision based on the experiences of OMEP members reporting from their various contexts. Taken together they provide a contextualised perspective on "crisis" and its relationship to a non-absolutist foundation to children's rights. The article concludes that what constitutes crisis from a global perspective warrants consideration in the context of local reality--in this locale the concept of every child as having access to "rights" is far from realisation.

Vaccine hesitancy is a common issue for children with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in China. The objective of this paper is to assess the immunization statuses of children with ITP, analyze the possible relationship between immunization and thrombocytopenia, and evaluate the safety of immunization after ITP remission. We included 186 children with an ITP history and followed up with them for two years after receiving re-immunization recommendations. The participants had an overall age-appropriate vaccine coverage of 57.9%. Vaccine-associated thrombocytopenia occurred in 99 (53.2%, 95% CI = 46.06–60.26) children ranging from 0 to 34 days following immunization, with 14 vaccines involved. One hundred and fifty-four (82.3%, 95% CI = 76.72–87.54) children were advised to restart immunization, whereas 32 (17.2%, 95% CI = 12.46–23.28) were advised to postpone partial or full vaccination. Following the follow-up, 150 (80.6%, 95% CI = 74.37–85.68) children completed the catch-up immunization, whereas 27 (14.5%, 95% CI = 10.17–20.30) partially completed it. Four patients with thrombocytopenia relapsed following the re-immunization. Incomplete catch-up immunization was related to the factors of chronic thrombocytopenia, vaccine-associated thrombocytopenia, and the relapse of ITP following re-immunization. ITP may occur after immunization with vaccines other than measles-containing vaccines. Re-immunization in children with ITP generally does not result in a relapse, regardless of whether the previous thrombocytopenia was vaccine-associated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents the first research study conducted to date on the use of Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) to treat children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Mainland China. This study gives detailed clinical examples of how to use DMT in the treatment of this population, and demonstrates the linguistic, nonverbal, and relational changes that took place after 7 months of individual sessions. Data from interviews with caregivers yielded four themes regarding the impact of DMT: (1) Improvement of ability to use language and to communicate, (2) Expansion of nonverbal communication and understanding of bodily language, (3) Emergence of new behaviors: game playing, imagination, and bodily movement, and (4) Appearance of positive emotional expression. In addition, the VB-MAPP assessment was used to evaluate the children's language levels before and after DMT. Findings indicate that it is necessary, appropriate, and effective to use DMT in the treatment of children with ASD, and that this evidence-based treatment should receive further development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's oldest old population is estimated to quadruple by 2050. Yet, poverty rate for the oldest old has been the highest among all age groups in China. This paper investigates the relationship between economic stress, quality of life, and mortality among the oldest-old in China. Both objective economic hardships and perceived economic strain are examined. We base our investigation on data drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted between 2000 and 2005. Our sample includes 10,972 men and women between the ages of 80 and 105 in 2000. The data show that about 16% of these oldest-old lived under economic stress in 2000. The risk factors that make one vulnerable to economic stress include age, being male, being widowed or never married, being a minority member, having no education, having no living children, and not having children as main source of income, and having no pension. Economic stress is negatively associated with indicators of quality of life, such as the quality of medical care and mental well-being. The poor quality of life contributes to the higher mortality rate for the oldest old who are under economic stress. Results also show that perceived economic strain increases the risk of mortality by 42% in rural areas, even after controlling for basic demographic characteristics, life style factors, and major health events. For the rural oldest-old, having children as a main source of income and having access to pension alleviates the negative impact of economic hardship on mortality hazard by 23 and 66% respectively. However, in urban areas, economic stress has no direct impact on the hazard of mortality.

This paper explores, through the lens of childhood, the Chinese cultural dynamics that encourage harmonious human relationships at the price of individual development and yet support a deep appreciation of natural human experiences that allows room for the development of individuality. The purpose of such investigation is to reexamine our cultural heritage in regard to the ways we conceptualize human beings and treat them, retracing its promises, difficulties, pitfalls, and spiritual resources, and thus to help reconfigure a new individuality for education.

Based on some longitudinal studies of private tutoring in twelve cities, towns, municipalities and provinces of China, the paper endeavours to depict demand intensity, articulate market parameters and reflect on policy responses towards the demand-supply mechanism of the vast shadowy educational phenomena at primary and secondary levels. Such educational phenomena are so hidden that there is a complete lack of official statistical figures in measuring the full scale of tutoring and identifying tutors in some cases. In Hong Kong and Macao, parents and their schooling children take up responsibilities to consume various types of tutoring without state intervention into quality assurance. In Mainland China, local ministries of education prohibit home tutoring delivered by daytime teachers to their daytime students whilst take a "laissez-faire" approach towards mass tutorials that run in private business sphere. Lastly, a multi-level societal movement framework is recommended with strategic action plans in school practitioners' and policy-makers' perspectives for effectively monitoring or hampering the growth of such shadowy educational phenomena in China. (Contains 4 tables and 14 footnotes.)

In this paper, we investigate the gender gap in education in rural northwest China. We first discuss parental perceptions of abilities and appropriate roles for girls and boys; parental concerns about old-age support; and parental perceptions of different labor market outcomes for girls' and boys' education. We then investigate gender disparities in investments in children, children's performance at school, and children's subsequent attainment. We analyze a survey of 9-12-year-old children and their families conducted in rural Gansu Province in the year 2000, along with follow-up information about subsequent educational attainment collected 7 years later. We complement our main analysis with two illustrative case studies of rural families drawn from 11 months of fieldwork conducted in rural Gansu between 2003 and 2005 by the second author. In 2000, most mothers expressed egalitarian views about girls' and boys' rights and abilities, in the abstract. However, the vast majority of mothers still expected to rely on sons for old-age support, and nearly one in five mothers interviewed agreed with the traditional saying, "Sending girls to school is useless since they will get married and leave home." Compared to boys, girls faced somewhat lower (though still very high) maternal educational expectations and a greater likelihood of being called on for household chores. However, there was little evidence of a gender gap in economic investments in education. Girls rivaled or outperformed boys in academic performance and engagement. Seven years later, boys had attained just about a third of a year more schooling than girls--a quite modest advantage that could not be fully explained by early parental attitudes and investments, or student performance or engagement. Fieldwork confirmed that parents of sons and daughters tended to have high aspirations for their children. Parents sometimes viewed boys as having greater aptitude, but tended to view girls as having more dedication--an attribute parents perceived as being critical for educational success. Findings suggest that at least in Gansu, rural parental educational attitudes and practices toward boys and girls are more complicated and less uniformly negative for girls than commonly portrayed. (Contains 3 figures, 1 map, and 4 tables.)

Verbs are harder to learn than nouns in English and in many other languages, but are relatively easy to learn in Chinese. This paper evaluates one potential explanation for these findings by examining the construct of imageability, or the ability of a word to produce a mental image. Chinese adults rated the imageability of Chinese words from the Chinese Communicative Development Inventory (Tardif et al., in press). Imageability ratings were a reliable predictor of age of acquisition in Chinese for both nouns and verbs. Furthermore, whereas early Chinese and English nouns do not differ in imageability, verbs receive higher imageability ratings in Chinese than in English. Compared with input frequency, imageability independently accounts for a portion of the variance in age of acquisition (AoA) of verb learning in Chinese and English.

This paper reports on two exploratory studies of situations that elicit shyness in Mainland Chinese children. In Study 1 (N = 100; M[subscript age] = 10.42) interviews with Chinese children identified three kinds of shyness-eliciting situations: social novelty; negative social evaluation; and public attention. In Study 2 (N = 162, M[subscript age] = 10.19), children's self-reported shyness in various social situations was found to be differentially associated with three forms of shyness common to Chinese culture: shyness toward strangers; anxious shyness; and regulated shyness. The findings revealed both similarities and differences in the eliciting situations for various forms of shyness in Chinese children. (Contains 1 footnote, 1 figure and 3 tables.)

This paper tests the external effect of household childbearing behavior by drawing on microfertility data from China. The test is executed by regressing one woman's fertility on the average fertility of neighboring women. China's unique affirmative birth control policy provides us with quasi-experimental fertility variation that facilities identification. We present two identification methods: (1) Testing the external effect from the dominant Han Chinese on minority women by using the fertility fine as an instrumental variable; and (2) identifying the external effect using an instrumental variable that is based on the difference-in-differences. We find that fertility has a large external effect. (Contains 6 tables and 23 footnotes.)