The essay examines the changes and continuities in the construction of elite athletes as national hero(in)es after the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and investigates this development at the discursive level in the context of the reform of Chinese elite sport. Through employing Critical Discourse Analysis to interrogate the traditional Chinese sport hero discourse in the pre-2008 era and in the post-2008 data from government-run media concerning two of the most renowned Chinese national sport hero(in)es, the paper identifies the maintenance, albeit with subtle changes, of the traditional nationalist account concerning the outstanding performances and political qualities of Chinese national sport hero(in)es. Concurrently, however, there are also new features, which are argued to be the consequence of a shift in the political climate in Chinese sport, evidenced in the post-2008 construction of national sport hero. The paper concludes with a discussion, from a Foucauldian perspective, of the relationship between the discourse, knowledge and the power of/over discourse in the construction of Chinese elite athletes as national hero(in)es throughout the period.

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This study focuses on the characteristics of teacher support perceived by students in an online learning environment. The findings demonstrate that the characteristics of teacher support in online learning environments differ significantly from those in face-to-face classrooms. In terms of autonomous support, online classrooms outperform face-to-face classes. Furthermore, students in a high-scoring class experience more teacher support.

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