The Effects of Foreign Language Proficiency on Public Attitudes: Evidence From the Chinese-Speaking World

Abstract

What explains public attitudes towards a former aggressor state? Conventional wisdom would suggest the prevalence of negative sentiments rooted in historical hatred. In this article we contend that when individuals are proficient in a foreign language—e.g. a lingua franca—they have an alternative channel through which they are exposed to positive narratives put forth by other parties regarding the former aggressor state. And as a result, their attitudes towards the former aggressor state are more positive than those held by their linguistically limited counterparts. To test our argument, we focus on public attitudes towards the Japanese in Mainland China, Singapore, and Taiwan—three Chinese-ethnic majority political units that experienced Japanese aggression leading up to and during World War II. Using survey data, we demonstrate that individuals who are proficient in the English language are much more likely to hold positive attitudes of the Japanese. These results are robust even when we consider whether some individuals are predisposed to being cosmopolitan; whether some individuals have more opportunities to learn English; and whether the linguistic effects are symptomatic of American soft power.

Reflective Teaching Model for Reading Comprehension

“…Naing, is situated on the outskirt of Sagaing). This finding is similar to that of the previous studies (Hu & Liu, 2020;Zhao, 2012) focusing on the impacts of different instructional situations that make the students' achievement different. During the treatment with the RTMRC approach to teaching students the English reading comprehension text, the teachers used three teaching strategies; reciprocal teaching, interactive teaching, and questioning.…”

“…Apart from the gender differences, different learning contexts (e.g., school, city, country) are the affecting factors on students' language learning achievement (Hu & Liu, 2020). Zhao et al (2012) also put forward that different teaching-learning situations can create the students' different achievement in reading comprehension.…”

Pronoun Usage as a Measure of Power Personalization: A General Theory with Evidence from the Chinese-Speaking World

“…To test the argument, I examine executive speeches made in China, Singapore and Taiwan – the three states in which Mandarin Chinese is an (if not the ) official language and where the majority of the population is Han Chinese (Hu and Liu 2020). Every executive has been a male ethnic Han 10 .…”

Hoklo speakers and Taiwanese identity in south Taiwan

“…During the fifty years of Japanese colonialization (1895–1945), there was substantial cultural influence from the colonial authorities—from architectural development to loan words. For example, although the Japanese initially viewed themselves as ethnically superior to the Han Chinese, by the 1930s they saw the Taiwanese as ethnically Japanese and thereby afforded the latter the privilege of fighting for the emperor (Ching, 2001; Hu & Liu, 2020).…”