Journal of Asian Pacific Communication - Volume 27, Issue 1, 2017

Based on a corpus of 200 articles from the People’s Daily and the People’s Daily Overseas Edition collected from 2010 to 2012, we examined the representation of English, applying framing theory ( Chong & Druckman, 2007 ). The results indicate four dominant frames shared by both newspapers: exclusion/oppression, warfare/protection, yardstick/benchmark, and bridge/needs. Both papers perceive the English language as a resource while constructing a Chinese identity fundamentally in competition with a Western identity reinforced by the English language. However, while both papers project the image of China as a unified, benign country proud of its linguistic and cultural heritage, the Overseas Edition seems more conscious in representing China as a motherland in need of protection from the threatening socio-cultural force of English. The article seeks to contribute to the growing body of research on language and identity in China, English and globalization, and the perception of English in the expanding circle.

Using the case of Guam, the present study examines the politically demobilizing potential of conflict avoidance in the Pacific. An analysis of data from a probability-based mail survey of registered voters (N = 319) in Guam revealed that conflict avoidance is inversely associated with political participation, civic engagement, and attention to interpersonal sources of information on a political issue. An inverse relationship between conflict avoidance and attention to the Internet as a source of information on a political issue was also approaching statistical significance. However, conflict avoidance was not associated with neighborliness. Implications are discussed.

The technological advancement and political situations have dramatically impacted the way traditional and new media have played their role in society, especially in the political development of the country. Studying media use and credibility have been a major concern among scholars to understand audience perceptions and attitudes towards the media and their role in politics. This study investigated the level of media use and credibility among voters and their perception of political efficacy. Drawing on a nationwide quota sampling of 2030 respondents, the findings found voter perception on the media as credible, with the highest trust being on television, followed by newspapers and radio. Internet was found to be the least credible. A factor analysis performed on the political efficacy items extracted three dimensions: Voter Efficacy, Internal Efficacy and External Efficacy. The results of hierarchical regression suggested that traditional and new media use as well as media trust dimensions were significantly correlated with political efficacy but different media use and credibility contributed differently to the various efficacy dimensions. Implications and recommendations are further discussed.

Considerable depth and breadth of research on Chinese English has been undertaken over the last three to four decades, contributing to the epistemological advancement of a number of academic disciplines, including world Englishes, Intercultural Communication, and Cultural Linguistics. Researching Chinese English involves engaging in ongoing theoretical developments in relevant disciplines that primarily focus on language and cultural studies, and the globalization and nativization of English in China. In this paper, we explore a Cultural Linguistics approach to researching Chinese English, and use cultural conceptualizations, including cultural schema, cultural category, and cultural metaphor, as the analytical framework with which to analyze a range of empirical linguistic data, including interviews, newspaper articles, textbooks, literary works by authors writing in Chinese English, and online media articles about China. We also draw out implications from researching Chinese cultural conceptualizations for intercultural communication involving Chinese speakers of English.

While Australian academic contexts generally prioritize verbal participation, Japanese educational environments expect students to participate silently. This research project explored why Japanese students remain silent in Australian classrooms despite knowing the expectations of western universities. Contrary to prevailing conceptions of silence in classroom contexts, findings revealed that some participants’ silent in-class behavior does not necessarily suggest reluctance or inability. Rather, participants assumed that verbally contributing to the class would impede the teacher’s lecture and their peers’ learning. Additional findings indicated that while cultural, identity traits, and previous education in Japan may have shaped their silent in-class behavior, some participants acknowledged the need to participate verbally to satisfy their teachers and peers in Australian classrooms. Peripheral factors such as the size of classrooms and lack of genuine rapport between classmates also influenced their classroom behavior. The findings expand upon existing literature which shows that Japanese students’ silence in Australian classrooms is often juxtaposed with teacher and student expectations.

A phenomenological study reveals Chinese mothers’ perception and interpretation of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday communications and interactions with their young children. In total, 23 in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Data of the current study indicated that Chinese mothers’ perception of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday lives’ communication and interaction with young children is both grounded and reflective of their parenting philosophy and family communication style. Data of the current study indicated that today’s Chinese mothers have a mixed feeling toward the role of smartphone and tablet plays in their parenting practices. According to those participants, the smartphone and tablet both help and hurt their communications and interactions with their children. There are both direct and indirect benefits of using smartphone for parenting. Similarly, the smartphone (tablet) also hurts Chinese mothers’ communications and interactions with their children directly and indirectly.

This paper examines the attributes of questions asked during televised political interviews in Japan. It details the type, style, and mode of questions posed during broadcast programs to national- and local-level politicians, and nonpoliticians, including experts in different areas. Based on data gathered during 2012–2013 from three interview programs, the paper provides criteria for identifying questions and distinguishing them from other expressions, differentiates the diverse types of questions, and proposes new criteria to analyze interviewers’ questions. Furthermore, the paper replicates and modifies the “Theory of Equivocation” to examine how Japanese interviewees cope with the communicative problems posed to them during televised political interviews and the effects of these questions on the interviewees’ replies.