Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Australian Chinese'

This thesis represents a transdisciplinary study based on qualitative research and critical analysis of oral history interviews and the personal narratives of sixty-seven Australian-born Chinese. It uses cultural studies approaches to investigate the diverse ways Chineseness becomes inscribed into the lives of Australian-born Chinese. It investigates diverse ways Chineseness becomes inscribed into the lives of Australian-born Chinese within three social and cultural spaces Australian-born Chinese inhabit. These are the family, mainstream Australian society and Chinese diasporic spaces located in China and Australia. In examining these three social and cultural spaces, this study seeks to demonstrate that Chineseness represents an inescapable ‘reality’ Australian-born Chinese are compelled to confront in their everyday lives. This ‘reality’ exists despite rights of birth, generational longevity, and strong national and cultural identities and identifications grounded in Australia, and whether or not Australian-born Chinese willingly choose to identify as ‘Chinese’. Nevertheless, despite the limits of Chineseness Australian-born Chinese experience in their lives, this study demonstrates that Australian-born Chinese are individual agents who devise a range of strategies and tactics which empower them to negotiate Chineseness in relevant and meaningful ways of their own choosing.

This dissertation presents a study of Chinese diasporic narratives from Canada and Australia and examines the formation and negotiation of diasporic cultural identity and consciousness. Drawing upon theoretical discussions on diasporas in general, it investigates how the Chinese diaspora is imagined and represented, as a visible minority group, within the context of the multicultural nation state. This dissertation begins with a taxonomy of the modes of explaining diaspora and offers three ways of theorising diasporic consciousness. In analysing the filmic and fictional narrative forms of the Chinese in Canada and Australia, the practices of cultural self-representation and of minority group participation and enjoyment of the nation are foregrounded in order to advance critical analysis of the Chinese diaspora. While taking into account the heterogeneity of the imagined diasporic Chinese community, this study also contends that the formation and negotiation of diasporic consciousness and diasporic cultural identity politics is strongly and invariably affected by the multicultural conditions and policies of their host countries. The adaptation and manifestation of minority groups' cultural practices are thus a matter of social, cultural and political contingencies more often aligned with dominant cultural expectations and manipulations than with the assertiveness of more empowered minority group participation. This dissertation therefore argues for a broader and more complex understanding of diasporic cultural and identity politics in the widespread attempts to merge and incorporate minority group narratives into the key foundational ('grand') narratives of the white nation state. The importance of reinscribing Chinese diasporic histories into the cultural landscapes of their receiving countries is moreover increasingly propelled by the speed and momentum of globalisation that has resulted in the growing number of multicultural societies on the one hand but also led to the homogenisation of cultural differences and diversities. In focussing on the fictional and filmic narratives from Canada and Australia, the diversity of the Chinese diasporic community and their conditions are emphasised in order to reflect upon the differences in the administration and practice of multiculturalism in these two countries. The comparative reading of Chinese-Canadian and Chinese-Australian novels and films locates its analysis of notions of 'homeland' and belonging, community and national and cultural citizenship within the context of the development and negotiation of diasporic identity politics.

This dissertation presents a study of Chinese diasporic narratives from Canada and Australia and examines the formation and negotiation of diasporic cultural identity and consciousness. Drawing upon theoretical discussions on diasporas in general, it investigates how the Chinese diaspora is imagined and represented, as a visible minority group, within the context of the multicultural nation state. This dissertation begins with a taxonomy of the modes of explaining diaspora and offers three ways of theorising diasporic consciousness. In analysing the filmic and fictional narrative forms of the Chinese in Canada and Australia, the practices of cultural self-representation and of minority group participation and enjoyment of the nation are foregrounded in order to advance critical analysis of the Chinese diaspora. While taking into account the heterogeneity of the imagined diasporic Chinese community, this study also contends that the formation and negotiation of diasporic consciousness and diasporic cultural identity politics is strongly and invariably affected by the multicultural conditions and policies of their host countries. The adaptation and manifestation of minority groups' cultural practices are thus a matter of social, cultural and political contingencies more often aligned with dominant cultural expectations and manipulations than with the assertiveness of more empowered minority group participation. This dissertation therefore argues for a broader and more complex understanding of diasporic cultural and identity politics in the widespread attempts to merge and incorporate minority group narratives into the key foundational ('grand') narratives of the white nation state. The importance of reinscribing Chinese diasporic histories into the cultural landscapes of their receiving countries is moreover increasingly propelled by the speed and momentum of globalisation that has resulted in the growing number of multicultural societies on the one hand but also led to the homogenisation of cultural differences and diversities. In focussing on the fictional and filmic narratives from Canada and Australia, the diversity of the Chinese diasporic community and their conditions are emphasised in order to reflect upon the differences in the administration and practice of multiculturalism in these two countries. The comparative reading of Chinese-Canadian and Chinese-Australian novels and films locates its analysis of notions of 'homeland' and belonging, community and national and cultural citizenship within the context of the development and negotiation of diasporic identity politics.

Understanding the Chinese tourism market to Australia is important for managers of Australian tourism product suppliers, marketing practitioners and academics, when China is an emerging market to Australia. This research examines contemporary issues in the Australian tourism product suppliers tapping into the Chinese tourism market. The research problem in this thesis is: How do Australian tourism product suppliers develop their strategies into the Chinese outbound tourism market? A case study methodology was applied in this research by interviewing the major players of Australian tourism product suppliers. The iterative research design was applied in this research due to the lack of previous research. Data from indepth interviews with key senior managers from case studies is analysed by within-case and cross-case analysis. From the findings, it is evident that cun-ently it is still at the early stage to talk about the Chinese outbound tourism market to Australia, because Australia was granted Approved Destination Status by the Chinese government on 22 April 1999. Nevertheless, the characteristics of Chinese travel patterns, the characteristics of Chinese tourists to Australia, the problems that the Australian tourism product suppliers of Australia have met and their strategies to solve these problems are investigated based on the previous experience of the Australian tourism product suppliers dealing with the Chinese tourism market. The major contribution of this research is the development of the understanding of the Chinese tourism market integrating all the detailed findings of the three research issues to answer the research problem in this research. The thesis also suggests the possible theoretical and practical ways for Australian tourism product suppliers to develop their strategies into the Chinese tourism market.

This dissertation presents a study of Chinese diasporic narratives from Canada and Australia and examines the formation and negotiation of diasporic cultural identity and consciousness. Drawing upon theoretical discussions on diasporas in general, it investigates how the Chinese diaspora is imagined and represented, as a visible minority group, within the context of the multicultural nation state. This dissertation begins with a taxonomy of the modes of explaining diaspora and offers three ways of theorising diasporic consciousness. In analysing the filmic and fictional narrative forms of the Chinese in Canada and Australia, the practices of cultural self-representation and of minority group participation and enjoyment of the nation are foregrounded in order to advance critical analysis of the Chinese diaspora. While taking into account the heterogeneity of the imagined diasporic Chinese community, this study also contends that the formation and negotiation of diasporic consciousness and diasporic cultural identity politics is strongly and invariably affected by the multicultural conditions and policies of their host countries. The adaptation and manifestation of minority groups’ cultural practices are thus a matter of social, cultural and political contingencies more often aligned with dominant cultural expectations and manipulations than with the assertiveness of more empowered minority group participation. This dissertation therefore argues for a broader and more complex understanding of diasporic cultural and identity politics in the widespread attempts to merge and incorporate minority group narratives into the key foundational (‘grand’) narratives of the white nation state. The importance of reinscribing Chinese diasporic histories into the cultural landscapes of their receiving countries is moreover increasingly propelled by the speed and momentum of globalisation that has resulted in the growing number of multicultural societies on the one hand but also led to the homogenisation of cultural differences and diversities. In focussing on the fictional and filmic narratives from Canada and Australia, the diversity of the Chinese diasporic community and their conditions are emphasised in order to reflect upon the differences in the administration and practice of multiculturalism in these two countries. The comparative reading of Chinese-Canadian and Chinese-Australian novels and films locates its analysis of notions of ‘homeland’ and belonging, community and national and cultural citizenship within the context of the development and negotiation of diasporic identity politics.

The research reported in this thesis is concerned with the spirituality of Chinese young people who attended a Chinese evangelical church in Melbourne, Australia. This research is a case study conducted in the framework of a qualitative approach using ethnographic methods, including fieldwork methods with data triangulation through participant observation, individual interviews and focus group interviews. Grounded theory was used to analyse data collected. The particular group of young people were Chinese in race, and Australian born, or had been living in Australia since early childhood. They attended the English speaking fellowship and services of a Chinese evangelical church in Melbourne, and their ages were between fifteen and eighteen years. They were born or had grown up in Australia, and had been exposed at least to two cultures, the Australian culture in the society, and the Chinese traditional culture in their family, in which the parents were the first generation in Australia. This research aimed to find out the characteristics of the spirituality of the Chinese young people through acknowledging the multicultural context in which they lived. Thus, it began with a cultural perspective and sought to study the cultural contexts that account for their distinctive Christian spirituality. In summary, the research reported in this thesis describes the young participants’ spirituality from their own perspectives, discusses their construction of identity that led to their distinctive spirituality, and studies their parents’ worldviews and the role of cultural institutions that have affected their spirituality. Finally, it concludes with development of theories of spirituality related to Chinese young people in a multicultural society, and proposes ways in which churches and families may encourage the development of spirituality for Chinese young people in a multicultural society.

The research reported in this thesis is concerned with the spirituality of Chinese young people who attended a Chinese evangelical church in Melbourne, Australia. This research is a case study conducted in the framework of a qualitative approach using ethnographic methods, including fieldwork methods with data triangulation through participant observation, individual interviews and focus group interviews. Grounded theory was used to analyse data collected. The particular group of young people were Chinese in race, and Australian born, or had been living in Australia since early childhood. They attended the English speaking fellowship and services of a Chinese evangelical church in Melbourne, and their ages were between fifteen and eighteen years. They were born or had grown up in Australia, and had been exposed at least to two cultures, the Australian culture in the society, and the Chinese traditional culture in their family, in which the parents were the first generation in Australia. This research aimed to find out the characteristics of the spirituality of the Chinese young people through acknowledging the multicultural context in which they lived. Thus, it began with a cultural perspective and sought to study the cultural contexts that account for their distinctive Christian spirituality. In summary, the research reported in this thesis describes the young participants' spirituality from their own perspectives, discusses their construction of identity that led to their distinctive spirituality, and studies their parents' worldviews and the role of cultural institutions that have affected their spirituality. Finally, it concludes with development of theories of spirituality related to Chinese young people in a multicultural society, and proposes ways in which churches and families may encourage the development of spirituality for Chinese young people in a multicultural society.

This thesis is concerned with the representation of Chinese people in Australian literature from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present. The range of texts selected for consideration includes many that have long been out of print, and so a major aim of this thesis is to bring these texts into visibility under the single theme of "The Representation of Chinese People in Australian Literature", a topic to which, as far as I know, no full length study has yet been devoted. Australian literary writings in the period of early colonization share the basic discourses inherited from Europe, creating themes and images of Chinese people according to the European myth of the 'yellow peril ' , which has influenced the perceptions of Chinese people by the 'West' for centuries. Central to this thesis is the argument that in Australian literature, the formation of perceptions and images of Chinese people follows the Western principles of ·the theory of orientalism, as formulated by Edward Said. The first known significant cultural contact between Australia and China took place when a considerable number of Chinese migrants entered Australia from the time of the 1840's. This contact was immediately interpreted as a cultural invasion by the then dominant literary discourse. It is argued here that the anti-Chinese attitudes which are heavily reflected in early literature and conventionally attributed to Australian racism, are the products of Western cultural hegemony, of which racism is a part. The anti-Chinese notions of early nationalism reflected in literature are also rooted in the discourse that spreads the fear of cultural contamination. Chapter One of the thesis produces a general profile of this situation by presenting relevant readings. In this situation, themes and images of Chinese invaders are formed to define the nature of Australia's Chinese contact. Images of negative and aggressive Chinese people are created according to the format of the traditional myth of the 'yellow peril', instead of through practical experiences. Chapter Two surveys a range of such images of invaders and draws the conclusion that those images are the products of texualization of orientalist discourse which can create 'truth' by textual accumulation, as in the case of Chinese goldminers. Chinese people are variously stereotyped by fictional texts. A selection of short stories published in The Bulletin around the turn of the century are brought together in Chapter Three to illustrate the formation of several stereotypes. This part of the thesis argues that various stereotypes of the Chinese can form a system of images which is centred on the vision of ? Chinese disease'. I explain this vision as a symbolic expression of the fear of a threatening and contaminating alien culture. I argue that the themes, images, representations and attitudes generated by this vision are all claiming a single idea which is that Australia is, and should remain. an extension of Europe. Nevertheless, in the history of Australian literary perceptions of China and its people. alternative perspectives have existed alongside the 'yellow peril myth. By surveying a range of texts collected in Chapter Four, the thesis brings this trend to people's notice. In some early sea romances, bush legends, and adventure stories of pioneering life, certain representations of Chinese people cannot be simply categorized as orientalist products, because these representations in relation to the Chinese reflect the consciousness of an independent Australia, which opposes, to some degree. Western discourses of power and cultural hegemony. It is noticed in this study that literary writings after the 1920's express stronger interest in. and pay more attention to aspects of Chinese culture, especially when the topic of the Australian nation is addressed. Chapter Five deals with this issue by presenting a collection of novels that narrate relationships between Australia and China in terms of cultural identity. This part of the thesis demonstrates that when Australia is seen as an independent cultural entity, its location in the orientalist world map can be shifted. Such texts exhibit Australia's movement away from the West towards Asia. Texts presented in the thesis so far indicate a duality in perceptions of China in that it is seen as either the yellow peril' or as a civilized entity associated in a positive way with the idea of an Australian cultural utopia. Chapter Six illustrates this duality by showing how the representation of gender differences can contribute to the construction of opposing images of China. In other words, perceptions of Chinese people can be highly contradictory even within an individual text. Contemporary texts demonstrate a critical break-through in relation to orientalist discourse. Texts selected for Chapter Seven are presented to show significant elements of change in Australian discourses on China. These texts are considered multiculturalist writings which are recognized by this thesis as providing the basis for reconstructing the Australian legend in such a way that Chinese people are included as an aspect of contemporary Australian social reality.

This research focuses on the cultural identity of Chinese Australian adolescents in Canberra between the ages of 18 and 21. Adolescence is a developmental stage in which young people feel a need to define their cultural identity. According to social identity theory, being a member of the group provides individuals with a sense of belonging that contributes to a positive self-concept. In particular, young people belonging to ethnic minority groups need a firm sense of group identification in order to maintain a sense of wellbeing (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). The purpose and significance of this study is to update our understanding of how adolescents from a specific ethnic minority group (Chinese Australian) adjust to the mainstream Australian culture. The information gathered will be significant to the wellbeing of these individuals in helping them to come to terms with their own identity. It will also provide useful information for effective cross-cultural interaction for a range of services such as education, law, health and social services. The quantitative and qualitative approaches employed in this study include a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The semi-structured interview complements the questionnaire in confirming the adjustments of these adolescents within an analytical framework that is a replica of Phinney's framework (1994). In her research on bicultural identity orientations of African American and Mexican American adolescents, Phinney categorised these adolescents under four distinct types of interaction with the mainstream culture. These are namely: separation (focus only on the ethnic culture), assimilation (identifying solely with the dominant culture), integration (relating well to both cultures) and marginality (relating to neither culture). In this dissertation the researcher also aims to determine the cultural identity of Chinese Australian adolescents in Canberra in the study using these four categories. The results of this study demonstrate that this framework is an appropriate analytical tool for the study of the cultural identity of Chinese Australian adolescents, most of whom classified themselves as integrated. Overall, Chinese Australian adolescents between the ages of 18 and 21 in the Canberra region were well adjusted and showed little tension or stress in relating to their ethnic culture or to the mainstream Australian culture.

This paper studies two contrarian strategy; one based on the Law of One Price and another based on the Markov switching strategy. The stock pairs are identified using a new derivation of the partial adjustment model. The Markov strategy is more profitable than the LOP strategy. This paper also tests international momentum effects between Chinese Shanghai Composite Index and Australian resource stocks. The enhanced indexing strategy is more profitable than the index tracking strategy.

This thesis contributes to the ongoing discussion of modern Chinese identity by pro-viding a case study of Cheok Hong CHEONG. It necessarily considers Australian atti-tudes towards the Chinese during the 19th century, not least the White Australia Pol-icy. The emergence of that discriminatory immigration policy over the second half of the 19th century until its national implementation in 1901 provides the background to the thesis. Cheong was the leading figure among Chinese-Australian Christians and a prominent figure in the Australian Chinese community and the thesis seeks to iden-tify a man whose contribution has largely been shadowy in other studies or, more commonly, overlooked by the parochialism of colony/state emphasis in many histo-ries of Australia. His role in the Christian church fills a space in Victorian religious history. Although Cheong accumulated great wealth he was not part of the Chinese mer-chant class of the huagong/huaquiao traditions of the overseas Chinese diaspora of the 19th and 20th centuries. His wealth was accumulated through property investments following the spectacular collapse of the Victorian banking system during the 1890s. His community leadership role arose through his position in the Christian Church rather than, as was generally the case, through business. His English language skills, resulting from his church association, were the key to his role as a Chinese community spokesman.¶ Cheok Hong Cheong left an archive of some 800 documents in the English lan-guage covering the major people, incidents and concerns of his life and times. His Let-terbooks, together with the archives of the various Christian missions to the Chinese in Australia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, shed light on one person’s life and more broadly, through his involvements on the complex relationships of Chinese emigrants, with the often unsympathetic majority of Australians.¶ This is a case study of a Chinese identity formed outside China and influenced by a wider set of cultural influences than any other Chinese-Australian of his time —an identity that justifies the description of him as an ‘Alien Son’. Cheong’s story is a con-tribution to the urban and family history of an important ethnic sub-group within the wider immigrant history of Australia.¶ While Cheong remained a Chinese subject his identification with Australia cannot be questioned. All his children were born in Australia and he left just twice after his arrival in 1863. He visited England in 1891-2 and in 1906 he briefly visited China. Identity and culture issues are growing in importance as part of the revived relation-ship between the Chinese of the diaspora and the economic renewal of the People’s Republic of China and this thesis is offers a contribution to that discussion.

The study is an exploration of pastoral leadership from the perspectives of members of the congregation within an Australian Chinese congregational church. The congregational form of church government is one of the governing structures within the Protestant churches. This kind of church operates under a democratic voting system in which each member of the congregation has an equal voice regarding church administration. Most Australian Chinese congregational churches consist of different generations of Chinese Christians. Research indicates that Chinese Australians’ length of residence in Australia is closely linked to their identification with Australian culture. As such, the values, beliefs and attitudes of different generations of Chinese Christians might be different as a result of acculturation. These generational differences will in turn affect the decision making processes of church administration and the approaches to pastoral leadership of the senior pastor. In the past, issues of pastoral leadership have mainly been discussed from theological perspectives. Nowadays, studies of pastoral leadership have been more varied. However, there is still relatively little scholarly empirical research concerning pastoral leadership in a congregational church setting, especially from an intergenerational perspective. In this study, four dimensions of pastoral leadership are identified, namely the personal, organisational, religious and cultural dimensions. The epistemology and theoretical perspective governing the research study is constructionism and interpretivism respectively. Case study has been employed as the methodology. The strategies of data collection include questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, direct observation and document analysis. Rich data is analysed by using the framework of Spencer, Ritchie and O’Connor (2003). The findings of the research revealed differing perceptions among different generations of Australian-Chinese Christians about the pastoral leadership of the senior pastor within an Australian Chinese congregational church. Differences in the perceptions about the pastoral leadership of the senior pastor were also found between groups of lay leaders and church members. Results indicated that a variety of leadership approaches were used by church pastors when they were dealing with different generations of Australian-Chinese Christians in the church. The findings identified the personal characteristics of the senior pastor as the most influential factor in the pastor’s leadership effectiveness, with the organisational, religious and cultural factors also perceived to influence the leadership effectiveness of the senior pastor within the research context. The research presents a conceptual framework for the exploration of pastoral leadership which may be useful for further research. This framework draws attention to the four dimensions of pastoral leadership, namely the personal, organisational, religious and cultural dimensions. The research findings suggest that attention given to these dimensions may enhance both the leadership of church pastors and the growth and development of churches in similar contexts.

Although minority status has been associated with low academic achievement, the “high Asian achieving syndrome" remains as one of the unresolved sociological puzzles. Consistent evidence suggests that regardless of the family status, children from the Asian migrant families, settled in the industrialised countries, tend to perform academically better than their counterparts from the dominant group. This disparity is attributed to a number of factors, which taken separately, do not address this complex issue. In Australia little research has been done to compare the home environment and school experiences of children coming from Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families even though the number of children from the Southeast Asian region has steadily increased. This thesis investigates the influence of home and school on the academic performance of high school students coming from Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families who resided in a predominantly middle class suburb and their children attended one particular state school in Perth, Western Australia. By studying children in their homes and classrooms I have attempted in this ethnographic study to construct some theoretically coherent explanations to understand the disparity in academic performance of Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian high school students. In order to capture what teachers, parents, and children say and do as a product of how they interpret the complexity of their world this study explores how macro and micro processes are linked to children's academic performance. As this study aims to understand social events from each individual's point of view it assumes that human behaviour is the result of indispensable and continuous interactions between persons and the situations they encounter. The findings of this study, with no claim to generalise beyond these families, suggest that the reason why Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian children have different educational outcomes is that these families socialise their children differently. From this study emerge two different models: and academic oriented Chinese-Australian model and a sports oriented Anglo-Australian model. At the start of high school there was no marked difference in ability and performance based on ethnicity. By the time they completed lower secondary school all Chinese-Australian students had improved in English and enrolled in a normal stream in English. Except for one student, they had selected TEE subjects with a university education as their main goal. At this stage, Anglo-Australians, with the exception of two students (who had selected TEE subjects), had decided to study either a mixture of TEE and TAFE subjects or easier TEE subjects. At the end of Year 12 all Chinese-Australian, except for one, had qualified to study at university. From Anglo-Australian group, only two students had qualified to study at university. This pattern of performance is consistent with the high Asian achieving syndrome and lack lustre performance of Anglo-Australian students. However, this study serves some sober reminder about the narrow focus by Chinese-Australians and lack of effort by Anglo-Australian students.

As a contribution to understanding the Chinese immigrants and their community, this study seeks to explore the factors influencing the formation and development of cultural identity among members of the Chinese diaspora in Australia. These include Chinese community life, family and professional networks, media use and its influences, and the changes that have taken place over the past ten years. Chinese communities in Australia are not homogeneous. Although they may all call themselves Chinese, they differ among themselves according to dialect, subdialect, clan and family, all of which are linked to their place of ancestral origin in China, as well as by country of birth outside of China. The degree to which these differences are considered important varies from individual to individual, but a community, whether it is constituted for social or business purposes, always comprises individuals who share one or more of these secondary characteristics in addition to their collective cultural characteristics. The study focuses on Canberra as a case study. First, it examines the similarities and differences within the Chinese diaspora coming from different geographical origins. It uses interviews and narrative analysis to examine the nature of Chinese immigrants and to assess their social, political and cultural context, with the aim to challenge the monolithic view that only one kind of Chinese community exists. It investigates how cultural background and other factors affect the formation and development of people's identity. In addition, as a point of secondary comparison, this study also analyses the differences between the Chinese diaspora in Canberra and Sydney. The aim here is to assess how the different locations and different characteristics of these cities communication networks affect migrants' adaptation to Australian society. Special attention will be given to differences between Dalu ren (the mainland Chinese), who came to Australia after the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989, and the other diasporic Chinese groups in Australia, which include Taiwan ren (Taiwanese), Xianggangren' (Honkongese), Malaixiya hua ren (Malaysian Chinese), and Xinjiapo hua ren (Singaporean Chinese). Since mainland China has had a different political system and the Communist Party replaced much Chinese tradition, people from the mainland have kept the least Chinese cultural traditions. Chinese from other regions try to keep the Chinese tradition as it was. However, the culture in mainland China has already changed. Therefore, the understanding of the Chinese tradition and culture among the Chinese from different regions varies greatly. This thesis explores the changing understanding within the members of the diasporic community of cultural identity. It attempts to show the strong influence of the notion of an original culture on the Chinese diaspora and how these ideas influence the way that diasporic Chinese community members interact within Australian society. It will investigate the changing characteristics, both social and individual, of mainlanders and other groups of Chinese immigrants in the 1990s, in the context of their professional, social and family networks. It will examine areas such as media use, languages and involvement with community development activities, and whether there are significant differences in their acculturation according to their different gender and places of origins. 1 Although Hong Kong has become part of China since 1997, there have, however, been different political and social systems in Hong Kong and the mainland, so this study researches Hong Kong in a separate category for the purpose of exploring differences.

This study examined university academics?? valence for teaching and research, and the relationships between the valence and self-efficacy for teaching and research, with an Australian and a Chinese sample. In addition, the study also investigated modelling of research activity and Chinese university academics?? attributions, experience of western research activities, and ingroup and outgroup relationships between models and observers. Design and conduct of the research was guided by a theoretical framework. Several hypotheses were generated and tested, and research questions were answered. Quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews were used in this study. The quantitative analysis comprised exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis, and content analysis was used for free responses in the surveys and the interview data from the sample of Chinese academics. Within the context of the research, the results suggested that valence for academic work may be related to university academics?? cultural orientation and their self-efficacy for academic work. The study also suggested that observing modelling by others may have been related to the Chinese university academics?? self-efficacy for research. Effects of modelling and the Chinese academics?? attributions for models?? success in research appeared to be moderated by ingroup and outgroup relationships between the models and observers. Moreover, overseas experience was found to be the most important external attribution for Chinese models?? success in research.

The study is an exploration of pastoral leadership from the perspectives of members of the congregation within an Australian Chinese congregational church. The congregational form of church government is one of the governing structures within the Protestant churches. This kind of church operates under a democratic voting system in which each member of the congregation has an equal voice regarding church administration. Most Australian Chinese congregational churches consist of different generations of Chinese Christians. Research indicates that Chinese Australians' length of residence in Australia is closely linked to their identification with Australian culture. As such, the values, beliefs and attitudes of different generations of Chinese Christians might be different as a result of acculturation. These generational differences will in turn affect the decision making processes of church administration and the approaches to pastoral leadership of the senior pastor. In the past, issues of pastoral leadership have mainly been discussed from theological perspectives. Nowadays, studies of pastoral leadership have been more varied. However, there is still relatively little scholarly empirical research concerning pastoral leadership in a congregational church setting, especially from an intergenerational perspective. In this study, four dimensions of pastoral leadership are identified, namely the personal, organisational, religious and cultural dimensions. The epistemology and theoretical perspective governing the research study is constructionism and interpretivism respectively. Case study has been employed as the methodology. The strategies of data collection include questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, direct observation and document analysis. Rich data is analysed by using the framework of Spencer, Ritchie and O'Connor (2003).;The findings of the research revealed differing perceptions among different generations of Australian-Chinese Christians about the pastoral leadership of the senior pastor within an Australian Chinese congregational church. Differences in the perceptions about the pastoral leadership of the senior pastor were also found between groups of lay leaders and church members. Results indicated that a variety of leadership approaches were used by church pastors when they were dealing with different generations of Australian-Chinese Christians in the church. The findings identified the personal characteristics of the senior pastor as the most influential factor in the pastor's leadership effectiveness, with the organisational, religious and cultural factors also perceived to influence the leadership effectiveness of the senior pastor within the research context. The research presents a conceptual framework for the exploration of pastoral leadership which may be useful for further research. This framework draws attention to the four dimensions of pastoral leadership, namely the personal, organisational, religious and cultural dimensions. The research findings suggest that attention given to these dimensions may enhance both the leadership of church pastors and the growth and development of churches in similar contexts.

Issues of culture and worldview and their impact on students' learning of science have become increasingly important to science teachers. This study details work that I carried out in the period 1995-1999 which examined the effect of culture on students' conceptualisations of nature. It is framed as the creation of my own 'living educational theory' as I, a teacher-researcher, dealt with what I perceived were the cultural inequities experienced by students in my classroom. I carried out my first study with a group of seven rural high school students in the Far North of Queensland in Australia, where I was teaching in 1995. Later, in two visits to China, I was able to carry out the same sort of research with a group of seven Chinese college students in Jinan, Shandong Province, PRC, largely using the Chinese language. I used a naturalistic inquiry approach and a semi-structured interview technique to determine students' conceptualisations of nature. I have chosen to embed the results of these two studies within narratives that describe my experiences in the two cultures as I carried out my research. For each culture, I have also developed an epic description of the role of science from the literature and history of that culture. From my three sources of data, interview, narrative and historical description, I have made knowledge claims about the students' beliefs about the natural world.My research findings are ironic to me since they are diametrically opposite to what I had expected. Initially I had believed that Mainland Chinese students would possess a world view full of alternative perspectives to that of Western school science. My research indicates however that students in rural Mainland China hold a traditional and integrated modem Western scientific world view. Although some researchers in other South-East Asian communities propose alternative frameworks for the teaching of science, frameworks that are actually 'pre-modern' these do not appear to be appropriate for Mainland Chinese students. I had expected that the Australian students would bring a modern Western scientific world view to the science classroom. However, the group of rural Western students that I interviewed displayed a world view that is not recognisable as that of modern Western science. Postmodernism and other cultural and social effects appear to have influenced them to such an extent that some have clearly not 'crossed the border' to a modern Western scientific world view. This thesis reflects my desire to overcome the perceived problem of inequity in my own teaching. The knowledge claims made here give some indication as to how I may improve my own practice. A return to the classroom will allow me to continue the cycle of action and reflection by which I can validate, develop and refine my living educational theory.

This study is concerned with the way in which discourses of the Other are deployed in the media's narrative constructions of national imaginary. Operating on the assumption that news provides techniques and devices which enable the nation and its Other to be narrated and imagined, the analysis focuses on the structures and processes by which Japan is constructed in the news stories in some Australian and Chinese printed media. The analysis finds that othering is a dynamic and complex process engaged in by both the East and the West, for purposes of both cultural domination and cultural negotiation, and to serve both external and domestic political ends. The study shows that what seems to be an essential distinction between the Orient, or the East, and the Occident, or the West, in the discourses of the Other is constantly shifting, fluid and context-specific. The investigation points to the need of forsaking a framework of understanding media and identity which is based on a truth vs propaganda, or information vs entertainment dichotomy, and adopting an approach that takes into account the particularities of the cultural practices of each media system
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) (Media and Cultural Studies)

Issues of culture and worldview and their impact on students' learning of science have become increasingly important to science teachers. This study details work that I carried out in the period 1995-1999 which examined the effect of culture on students' conceptualisations of nature. It is framed as the creation of my own 'living educational theory' as I, a teacher-researcher, dealt with what I perceived were the cultural inequities experienced by students in my classroom. I carried out my first study with a group of seven rural high school students in the Far North of Queensland in Australia, where I was teaching in 1995. Later, in two visits to China, I was able to carry out the same sort of research with a group of seven Chinese college students in Jinan, Shandong Province, PRC, largely using the Chinese language. I used a naturalistic inquiry approach and a semi-structured interview technique to determine students' conceptualisations of nature. I have chosen to embed the results of these two studies within narratives that describe my experiences in the two cultures as I carried out my research. For each culture, I have also developed an epic description of the role of science from the literature and history of that culture. From my three sources of data, interview, narrative and historical description, I have made knowledge claims about the students' beliefs about the natural world.My research findings are ironic to me since they are diametrically opposite to what I had expected. Initially I had believed that Mainland Chinese students would possess a world view full of alternative perspectives to that of Western school science. My research indicates however that students in rural Mainland China hold a traditional and integrated modem Western scientific world view. Although some researchers in other South-East Asian communities propose alternative frameworks for ++
the teaching of science, frameworks that are actually 'pre-modern' these do not appear to be appropriate for Mainland Chinese students. I had expected that the Australian students would bring a modern Western scientific world view to the science classroom. However, the group of rural Western students that I interviewed displayed a world view that is not recognisable as that of modern Western science. Postmodernism and other cultural and social effects appear to have influenced them to such an extent that some have clearly not 'crossed the border' to a modern Western scientific world view. This thesis reflects my desire to overcome the perceived problem of inequity in my own teaching. The knowledge claims made here give some indication as to how I may improve my own practice. A return to the classroom will allow me to continue the cycle of action and reflection by which I can validate, develop and refine my living educational theory.

Traditional financial theories see capital structure as a result of mainly financial, tax and growth factors (Modigliani & Miller, 1958). But corporate governance theories (Jensen & Meckling, 1976) and business strategy theories (Barton & Gordon, 1988) suggest that ownership structure and ownership concentration, product diversification and asset specificity may also influence capital structure. Focusing on the examination of the determinants of capital structure in Chinese listed companies, this research goes beyond financial factors and considered business strategy and corporate governance approaches, and their impact on capital structure, in a transitioning Chinese context where institutions, expertise and regulatory processes are different to, but converging on, Western approaches. A panel data set of 1,098 Chinese listed companies for the period of 1991 to 2000 was collected from published sources, and conventional and innovative econometric methodologies were used to model a range of relationships between capital structure and its financial and non-financial determinants. The statistical approaches used in this study included Ordinary Least Squares Model and also Linear Mixed Model, which is a powerful tool to examine panel data where independence of explanatory variables is not assumed. The analysis also involved Hox’s model building procedures to measure model fit. The capital structure of listed companies in both the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Securities Exchange is positively related to a firm’s tax rate, growth and capital intensity and negatively related to a firm’s profit and size. Other financial factors such as tangibility, risk and duration are non-significant. The capital structure of listed companies, particularly in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, is positively related to product diversification and negatively related to asset specificity. The capital structure of listed companies in the Shanghai Securities Exchange is positively related to government ownership and ownership concentration of the largest shareholder and negatively related to legal person ownership and ownership concentration of the ten largest shareholders. The data and modelling support financial and non-financial determinants of capital structure. In particular, information asymmetry, business diversity and asset specificity have a significant impact on capital structure. In addition the empirical work in the study supports agency cost explanations of debt and equity. Finally the research demonstrates that the two main financial markets in China, Shenzhen and Shanghai, have operated differently but are converging towards a common norm. The research contributes to the general field of capital structure and provides valuable insights into the nature of the Chinese firm and the evolution of the Chinese financial system.
Doctor of Philosophy

Traditional financial theories see capital structure as a result of mainly financial, tax and growth factors (Modigliani & Miller, 1958). But corporate governance theories (Jensen & Meckling, 1976) and business strategy theories (Barton & Gordon, 1988) suggest that ownership structure and ownership concentration, product diversification and asset specificity may also influence capital structure. Focusing on the examination of the determinants of capital structure in Chinese listed companies, this research goes beyond financial factors and considered business strategy and corporate governance approaches, and their impact on capital structure, in a transitioning Chinese context where institutions, expertise and regulatory processes are different to, but converging on, Western approaches. A panel data set of 1,098 Chinese listed companies for the period of 1991 to 2000 was collected from published sources, and conventional and innovative econometric methodologies were used to model a range of relationships between capital structure and its financial and non-financial determinants. The statistical approaches used in this study included Ordinary Least Squares Model and also Linear Mixed Model, which is a powerful tool to examine panel data where independence of explanatory variables is not assumed. The analysis also involved Hox’s model building procedures to measure model fit. The capital structure of listed companies in both the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Securities Exchange is positively related to a firm’s tax rate, growth and capital intensity and negatively related to a firm’s profit and size. Other financial factors such as tangibility, risk and duration are non-significant. The capital structure of listed companies, particularly in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, is positively related to product diversification and negatively related to asset specificity. The capital structure of listed companies in the Shanghai Securities Exchange is positively related to government ownership and ownership concentration of the largest shareholder and negatively related to legal person ownership and ownership concentration of the ten largest shareholders. The data and modelling support financial and non-financial determinants of capital structure. In particular, information asymmetry, business diversity and asset specificity have a significant impact on capital structure. In addition the empirical work in the study supports agency cost explanations of debt and equity. Finally the research demonstrates that the two main financial markets in China, Shenzhen and Shanghai, have operated differently but are converging towards a common norm. The research contributes to the general field of capital structure and provides valuable insights into the nature of the Chinese firm and the evolution of the Chinese financial system.
Doctor of Philosophy

In terms of numbers and volume of meat produced, the Chinese beef industry is one of the largest in the world. Development of the industry has only occurred within the last thirty years, and despite extensive cross-breeding programs with imported breeds, performance of Chinese cattle is low, and the industry is still subject to traditional farming methods. This study looks at the Australian-developed genetic evaluation system BREEDPLAN, which is regarded worldwide as one of the best systems for assisting with selection of beef cattle for increased performance by evaluating genetics and identifying superior animals, and asks if BREEDPLAN can be successfully applied to the Chinese beef industry. Issues discussed include the complementarity of BREEDPLAN to existing Chinese breeding programs and the benefits of BREEDPLAN if introduced, as well as opportunities for Australians to provide consultancy services to facilitate introduction. The marketing of Australian genetic material in China, and cross-cultural marketing issues are also considered. Field research was conducted in China using itinerant interviews and observational research, together with unstructured, informal interviews and discussions with Australian beef industry experts. It is found that breed improvement programs in China are controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture, and management practises within the government-run herds make them eminently suitable for the application of BREEDPLAN. The objective measurements of BREEDPLAN would provide observable genetic gain, resulting in increased industry productivity and profitability. In addition, it is found that a need exists within the Chinese beef industry for consultants not only with expertise and knowledge about BREEDPLAN, but also with an understanding of Chinese language and culture, which would be an advantage for dealing with cross-cultural difficulties. Market opportunities for Australian genetic material are considerable, but not unlimited, and further research is required to assess the size of the market. It is recommended that immediate steps be taken to introduce BREEDPLAN to the Chinese beef industry.

Decision making in Western Australia’s iron ore companies dealing with Chinese companies is vital for long-term relationship. In-depth qualitative interviews with 31 participants at senior management and executive level provide “lived” insights and “multi-realities” of decision making. Significant differences exist in terms of decision frameworks: collective, individual and hierarchical. The data points to a guanxi concentric circles model and the nuances of contract. An Emergent Decision Making Model is proposed to improve decision making processes.

This study compares the use of overlap and listener response by Chinese and Australian speakers in their respective intracultural conversations, that is, in conversations between Chinese interlocutors in Mandarin Chinese and between Australians in Australian English. The main purpose of this study is to locate similarities and differences between these two groups of speakers in their use of the two conversational strategies. Another major theme of the thesis is to examine the role of gender in the use of overlap and listener response in conversations of the two languages. The study is based upon the theoretical premise of interactional sociolinguistics that different cultural groups may have different rules for participation and interpretation of conversation and that conflicts related to these rules are a major source of cross cultural (and cross gender) miscommunication. It is also a response to lack of evidence for this claim from languages other than English, especially from Chinese. The data for the study are from 30 dyadic conversations between friends of similar age and similar social status: 15 Chinese conversations in Mandarin Chinese and 15 Australian ones in Australian English. Both the Australian and the Chinese conversations come from 5 female-female dyads, 5 male-male dyads and 5 male-female dyads. Both the qualitative and the quantitative aspects of the use of overlap and listener response are compared. With respect to the use of overlap, the qualitative part of the study examines the various phenomena that the speakers orient to in overlap onset, the procedures they use to resolve the state of overlap, and the strategies they employ to retrieve their overlapped utterances. The quantitative part of the study then compares the use of overlap by Chinese and Australian speakers and their respective male and female participants in terms of overlap onset, resolution, and/or retrieval . In regard to the use of listener response, the qualitative part of the study looks at how passive recipiency and speakership incipiency are signalled and achieved through the use of different listener response tokens in conversations of the two languages. The quantitative part of the study compares the use of listener response by Chinese and Australian speakers and male and female participants in three aspects: the overall frequency of listener responses used, the types of listener responses favoured, and the placements of listener responses with reference to a possible completion point. The results of the comparison reveal a number of similarities and differences in the use of overlap and listener response by Chinese and Australian speakers. For the use of overlap, the similarities include: 1) Both Chinese and Australian speakers have the same set of issues to orient to in their initiation of overlap, resort to the same basic procedures in resolving the state of overlap, and use the same strategies in retrieving their overlapped utterances; 2) they use a similar number of overlaps; 3) they start their overlaps mostly at a possible completion point; 4) they tend to continue with their talk more than to drop out when an overlap occurs. Two specific differences have also been identified in the use of overlap by Chinese and Australian speakers: 1) Australians initiate a higher percentage of their overlaps at a possible completion point whereas Chinese initiate a greater proportion of their overlaps in the midst of a turn; 2) when overlap occurs, Chinese speakers drop out more to resolve the state of overlap while Australian speakers continue their talk more to get through the overlap. For the use of listener response, the similarities lie largely in the ways of orienting to an extended turn unit by Chinese and Australian recipients in a conversation. Available in conversations of both languages are the two distinctive uses of listener response, that is, to show passive recipiency or to signal speakership incipiency. The differences between the two groups of speakers in the use of listener response include: 1) Australians use more listener responses than Chinese speakers; 2) while Australians prefer to use linguistic lexical expressions such as 'yeh' and 'right' as their reaction to the primary speaker's ongoing talk, Chinese speakers favour the use of paralinguistic vocalic forms such as 'hm' and 'ah'; 3) whereas Australians place a higher percentage of their listener responses at a possible completion point than Chinese speakers, Chinese speakers place a larger proportion of their listener responses in the midst of a turn than their Australian counterparts. While the similarities between Chinese and Australian speakers in their use of overlap and listener response indicate to a great extent the sharing of similar organising principles for conversation by both languages, the differences show some culture-specific aspects of the use of these two conversational strategies by the two groups of speakers. The study found a striking parallel between the differential use of overlap and listener response by Chinese and Australian speakers and their different perceptions of rights and obligations in social life, including in social interaction. The study does not reveal consistent cross-cultural patterns with respect to the use of overlap and listener response by male and female speakers in Chinese and Australian conversations. That is, gender has not played an identical role in the use of the two conversational strategies in conversations of, the two languages. Gender differential interactional patterns are to a great extent culture-specific. This finding, together with that of within-culture and within-gender variation, cautions us against any universal claim about gender-differential use of a given conversational phenomenon, whether the claims are based on deficit, or dominance, or difference assumptions in language and gender theories.

Speeding remains a significant contributing factor to road trauma internationally, despite increasingly sophisticated speed management strategies being adopted around the world. Increases in travel speed are associated with increases in crash risk and crash severity. As speed choice is a voluntary behaviour, driver perceptions are important to our understanding of speeding and, importantly, to designing effective behavioural countermeasures. The four studies conducted in this program of research represent a comprehensive approach to examining psychosocial influences on driving speeds in two countries that are at very different levels of road safety development: Australia and China. Akers’ social learning theory (SLT) was selected as the theoretical framework underpinning this research and guided the development of key research hypotheses. This theory was chosen because of its ability to encompass psychological, sociological, and criminological perspectives in understanding behaviour, each of which has relevance to speeding. A mixed-method design was used to explore the personal, social, and legal influences on speeding among car drivers in Queensland (Australia) and Beijing (China). Study 1 was a qualitative exploration, via focus group interviews, of speeding among 67 car drivers recruited from south east Queensland. Participants were assigned to groups based on their age and gender, and additionally, according to whether they self-identified as speeding excessively or rarely. This study aimed to elicit information about how drivers conceptualise speeding as well as the social and legal influences on driving speeds. The findings revealed a wide variety of reasons and circumstances that appear to be used as personal justifications for exceeding speed limits. Driver perceptions of speeding as personally and socially acceptable, as well as safe and necessary were common. Perceptions of an absence of danger associated with faster driving speeds were evident, particularly with respect to driving alone. An important distinction between the speed-based groups related to the attention given to the driving task. Rare speeders expressed strong beliefs about the need to be mindful of safety (self and others) while excessive speeders referred to the driving task as automatic, an absent-minded endeavour, and to speeding as a necessity in order to remain alert and reduce boredom. For many drivers in this study, compliance with speed limits was expressed as discretionary rather than mandatory. Social factors, such as peer and parental influence were widely discussed in Study 1 and perceptions of widespread community acceptance of speeding were noted. In some instances, the perception that ‘everybody speeds’ appeared to act as one rationale for the need to raise speed limits. Self-presentation, or wanting to project a positive image of self was noted, particularly with respect to concealing speeding infringements from others to protect one’s image as a trustworthy and safe driver. The influence of legal factors was also evident. Legal sanctions do not appear to influence all drivers to the same extent. For instance, fear of apprehension appeared to play a role in reducing speeding for many, although previous experiences of detection and legal sanctions seemed to have had limited influence on reducing speeding among some drivers. Disregard for sanctions (e.g., driving while suspended), fraudulent demerit point use, and other strategies to avoid detection and punishment were widely and openly discussed. In Study 2, 833 drivers were recruited from roadside service stations in metropolitan and regional locations in Queensland. A quantitative research strategy assessed the relative contribution of personal, social, and legal factors to recent and future self-reported speeding (i.e., frequency of speeding and intentions to speed in the future). Multivariate analyses examining a range of factors drawn from SLT revealed that factors including self-identity (i.e., identifying as someone who speeds), favourable definitions (attitudes) towards speeding, personal experiences of avoiding detection and punishment for speeding, and perceptions of family and friends as accepting of speeding were all significantly associated with greater self-reported speeding. Study 3 was an exploratory, qualitative investigation of psychosocial factors associated with speeding among 35 Chinese drivers who were recruited from the membership of a motoring organisation and a university in Beijing. Six focus groups were conducted to explore similar issues to those examined in Study 1. The findings of Study 3 revealed many similarities with respect to the themes that arose in Australia. For example, there were similarities regarding personal justifications for speeding, such as the perception that posted limits are unreasonably low, the belief that individual drivers are able to determine safe travel speeds according to personal comfort with driving fast, and the belief that drivers possess adequate skills to control a vehicle at high speed. Strategies to avoid detection and punishment were also noted, though they appeared more widespread in China and also appeared, in some cases, to involve the use of a third party, a topic that was not reported by Australian drivers. Additionally, higher perceived enforcement tolerance thresholds were discussed by Chinese participants. Overall, the findings indicated perceptions of a high degree of community acceptance of speeding and a perceived lack of risk associated with speeds that were well above posted speed limits. Study 4 extended the exploratory research phase in China with a quantitative investigation involving 299 car drivers recruited from car washes in Beijing. Results revealed a relatively inexperienced sample with less than 5 years driving experience, on average. One third of participants perceived that the certainty of penalties when apprehended was low and a similar proportion of Chinese participants reported having previously avoided legal penalties when apprehended for speeding. Approximately half of the sample reported that legal penalties for speeding were ‘minimally to not at all’ severe. Multivariate analyses revealed that past experiences of avoiding detection and punishment for speeding, as well as favourable attitudes towards speeding, and perceptions of strong community acceptance of speeding were most strongly associated with greater self-reported speeding in the Chinese sample. Overall, the results of this research make several important theoretical contributions to the road safety literature. Akers’ social learning theory was found to be robust across cultural contexts with respect to speeding; similar amounts of variance were explained in self-reported speeding in the quantitative studies conducted in Australia and China. Historically, SLT was devised as a theory of deviance and posits that deviance and conformity are learned in the same way, with the balance of influence stemming from the ways in which behaviour is rewarded and punished (Akers, 1998). This perspective suggests that those who speed and those who do not are influenced by the same mechanisms. The inclusion of drivers from both ends of the ‘speeding spectrum’ in Study 1 provided an opportunity to examine the wider utility of SLT across the full range of the behaviour. One may question the use of a theory of deviance to investigate speeding, a behaviour that could, arguably, be described as socially acceptable and prevalent. However, SLT seemed particularly relevant to investigating speeding because of its inclusion of association, imitation, and reinforcement variables which reflect the breadth of factors already found to be potentially influential on driving speeds. In addition, driving is a learned behaviour requiring observation, guidance, and practice. Thus, the reinforcement and imitation concepts are particularly relevant to this behaviour. Finally, current speed management practices are largely enforcement-based and rely on the principles of behavioural reinforcement captured within the reinforcement component of SLT. Thus, the application of SLT to a behaviour such as speeding offers promise in advancing our understanding of the factors that influence speeding, as well as extending our knowledge of the application of SLT. Moreover, SLT could act as a valuable theoretical framework with which to examine other illegal driving behaviours that may not necessarily be seen as deviant by the community (e.g., mobile phone use while driving). This research also made unique contributions to advancing our understanding of the key components and the overall structure of Akers’ social learning theory. The broader SLT literature is lacking in terms of a thorough structural understanding of the component parts of the theory. For instance, debate exists regarding the relevance of, and necessity for including broader social influences in the model as captured by differential association. In the current research, two alternative SLT models were specified and tested in order to better understand the nature and extent of the influence of differential association on behaviour. Importantly, the results indicated that differential association was able to make a unique contribution to explaining self-reported speeding, thereby negating the call to exclude it from the model. The results also demonstrated that imitation was a discrete theoretical concept that should also be retained in the model. The results suggest a need to further explore and specify mechanisms of social influence in the SLT model. In addition, a novel approach was used to operationalise SLT variables by including concepts drawn from contemporary social psychological and deterrence-based research to enhance and extend the way that SLT variables have traditionally been examined. Differential reinforcement was conceptualised according to behavioural reinforcement principles (i.e., positive and negative reinforcement and punishment) and incorporated concepts of affective beliefs, anticipated regret, and deterrence-related concepts. Although implicit in descriptions of SLT, little research has, to date, made use of the broad range of reinforcement principles to understand the factors that encourage or inhibit behaviour. This approach has particular significance to road user behaviours in general because of the deterrence-based nature of many road safety countermeasures. The concept of self-identity was also included in the model and was found to be consistent with the definitions component of SLT. A final theoretical contribution was the specification and testing of a full measurement model prior to model testing using structural equation modelling. This process is recommended in order to reduce measurement error by providing an examination of the psychometric properties of the data prior to full model testing. Despite calls for such work for a number of decades, the current work appears to be the only example of a full measurement model of SLT. There were also a number of important practical implications that emerged from this program of research. Firstly, perceptions regarding speed enforcement tolerance thresholds were highlighted as a salient influence on driving speeds in both countries. The issue of enforcement tolerance levels generated considerable discussion among drivers in both countries, with Australian drivers reporting lower perceived tolerance levels than Chinese drivers. It was clear that many drivers used the concept of an enforcement tolerance in determining their driving speed, primarily with the desire to drive faster than the posted speed limit, yet remaining within a speed range that would preclude apprehension by police. The quantitative results from Studies 2 and 4 added support to these qualitative findings. Together, the findings supported previous research and suggested that a travel speed may not be seen as illegal until that speed reaches a level over the prescribed enforcement tolerance threshold. In other words, the enforcement tolerance appears to act as a ‘de facto’ speed limit, replacing the posted limit in the minds of some drivers. The findings from the two studies conducted in China (Studies 2 and 4) further highlighted the link between perceived enforcement tolerances and a ‘de facto’ speed limit. Drivers openly discussed driving at speeds that were well above posted speed limits and some participants noted their preference for driving at speeds close to ‘50% above’ the posted limit. This preference appeared to be shaped by the perception that the same penalty would be imposed if apprehended, irrespective of what speed they travelling (at least up to 50% above the limit). Further research is required to determine whether the perceptions of Chinese drivers are mainly influenced by the Law of the People’s Republic of China or by operational practices. Together, the findings from both studies in China indicate that there may be scope to refine enforcement tolerance levels, as has happened in other jurisdictions internationally over time, in order to reduce speeding. Any attempts to do so would likely be assisted by the provision of information about the legitimacy and purpose of speed limits as well as risk factors associated with speeding because these issues were raised by Chinese participants in the qualitative research phase. Another important practical implication of this research for speed management in China is the way in which penalties are determined. Chinese drivers described perceptions of unfairness and a lack of transparency in the enforcement system because they were unsure of the penalty that they would receive if apprehended. Steps to enhance the perceived certainty and consistency of the system to promote a more equitable approach to detection and punishment would appear to be welcomed by the general driving public and would be more consistent with the intended theoretical (deterrence) basis that underpins the current speed enforcement approach. The use of mandatory, fixed penalties may assist in this regard. In many countries, speeding attracts penalties that are dependent on the severity of the offence. In China, there may be safety benefits gained from the introduction of a similar graduated scale of speeding penalties and fixed penalties might also help to address the issue of uncertainty about penalties and related perceptions of unfairness. Such advancements would be in keeping with the principles of best practice for speed management as identified by the World Health Organisation. Another practical implication relating to legal penalties, and applicable to both cultural contexts, relates to the issues of detection and punishment avoidance. These two concepts appeared to strongly influence speeding in the current samples. In Australia, detection avoidance strategies reported by participants generally involved activities that are not illegal (e.g., site learning and remaining watchful for police vehicles). The results from China were similar, although a greater range of strategies were reported. The most common strategy reported in both countries for avoiding detection when speeding was site learning, or familiarisation with speed camera locations. However, a range of illegal practices were also described by Chinese drivers (e.g., tampering with or removing vehicle registration plates so as to render the vehicle unidentifiable on camera and use of in-vehicle radar detectors). With regard to avoiding punishment when apprehended, a range of strategies were reported by drivers from both countries, although a greater range of strategies were reported by Chinese drivers. As the results of the current research indicated that detection avoidance was strongly associated with greater self-reported speeding in both samples, efforts to reduce avoidance opportunities are strongly recommended. The practice of randomly scheduling speed camera locations, as is current practice in Queensland, offers one way to minimise site learning. The findings of this research indicated that this practice should continue. However, they also indicated that additional strategies are needed to reduce opportunities to evade detection. The use of point-to-point speed detection (also known as sectio

Recent interest in international marketing studies focuses on a 'frontier' issue - entry mode strategy. There are two major different views about market entry strategy - internationalization and contingency. Both of them have more than one theoretical model. The major difference between these two views is whether the company can choose an optimal entry mode. This research explores this important issue of entry mode choice by focusing on Australian high value-added manufacturing companies entering the Chinese market. This is a contemporary issue with great importance to Australia and China because Australian high value-added manufacturing companies are the fastest growing exporters in Australia and the Chinese market is an emerging market with enormous market potential. Therefore, the research problem of this research is: RP: How do Australian high value-added manufacturing companies develop their entry mode strategies for the Chinese market? The research reviewed the literature relating to the parent discipline of entry mode strategy, and supports the transaction cost model in particular. This model of entry mode choice believes that entry mode choice is closely related to a host country's external environmental factors and internal factors of companies entering the market. Moreover, entry mode choice is directly decided by trade-offs of four critical constructs - risk, return, cost and control. From the literature review, this research tends to support the idea that an optimal entry mode may be chosen instead of adhering to the sequential stagesapproach of the internationalization process. Therefore, four research propositions were developed on the basis of these discussions. Research proposition 1 examined whether the proposed four critical constructs capture most of the considerations in the choice of entry mode. Research proposition 2 examined whether each type of entry mode can be charted on the above four constructs. Research proposition 3 examined various external environmental factors of the Chinese market and their impacts on Australian high value-added manufacturing companies' entry activities. Finally, research proposition 4 examined various internal factors of Australian high value added manufacturing companies and their impacts on entry activities of these companies. Data was collected by using the exploratory and explanatory case study methodology, with two pilot case studies carried out in Brisbane to refine the research protocol and procedures. Thirteen Australian high value-added manufacturing companies from five industry clusters operating in Beijing were examined in the major stage of data collection. Data was analyzed by using both case descriptions and cross-case analysis methods. The research findings showed the importance of those four critical constructs for entry mode choice. Moreover, relationship networks emerged as another critical consideration. Research findings for research propositions 3 and 4 also identified some important external and internal factors for entry mode choice. Therefore, on the basis of research findings about the research propositions, an entry mode strategic model was developed to meet the special needs of managers in Australian high value-added manufacturing companies to develop their entry mode strategy. Practical implications of this model were discussed in detail. Furthermore, the impacts of the findings of this research on the parent disciplines of entry mode choice were also examined. Further research should focus on Australian service companies and other areas of China to replicate the research findings of this research.

This thesis presents original research: it examines the constructs of duty and obedience in post-World War II Greek-Australian and Chinese Australian literature and compares the strategies these first- and second-generation authors use to make their fictional characters deal with these concepts while living in Australia, the problems their characters face and the solutions they encounter. This thesis analyses ten texts: six written by Greek-Australian authors and four by Chinese Australian writers. It aims to examine how the above-mentioned cultural concepts appear in these texts and influence the behaviour and thoughts of the characters. In doing so, this thesis aims to state and compare the strategies used. This study looks at texts published in English by first- and second-generation Greek-Australian and first-generation Chinese Australian migrants during the period 1971- 2005. The date 1971 is significant because that year Australia saw the publication of the first English-language book written by a Greek-Australian. It was the poetry collection A Tree at the Gate, by Aristides George Paradissis. Also, it was the year when the People’s Republic of China and Australia re-established diplomatic relations twenty years after all ties between the two nations had been suspended. Likewise, the year 2005 is relevant as the racist Cronulla riots took place in December. The riots marked the end of the spirit of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and of the 2001 centennial celebrations of the Federation of Australia… This thesis begins with an analysis of the immigration policies in Australia from the British invasion of the country in 1788 until 2011 and an analysis of the policy of multiculturalism. It then looks at the concepts of duty and obedience in Greek culture and in Chinese culture, how these concepts evolved especially during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and how they affect marriage and divorce, interpersonal and intergenerational relations, patriotism and migration. This historical-cultural section is followed by a theoretical chapter where the concept of “identity” is explored. The final step is to analyse these notions in the literary texts chosen and compare the strategies used by the authors to make the characters confront (or not) certain specific situations.

[Abstract]Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) for polyphenol oxidase and xanthophyll have a significant impact on variation in wheat flour for noodle colour and colour stability. QTLs from two Australian wheat cultivars, Sunco and Tasman, have been backcrossed into two Chinese wheat varieties, Chuanmai 22 and Mianyang 11, to assess marker predictability for these important traits in significantly different genetic backgrounds. The concept of Marker-Assisted-Selection (MAS) is being trialled in this study as a proposed method for wheat improvement. In this approach molecular markers are used in conjunction with backcross breeding methods to introgress specific characters into elite breeding materials, with the goal of improving the quality attributes of wheat for the Asian noodle market. After three single seed descent generations, the backcross populations generated allow four QTLs to be investigated. These include two for polyphenol oxidase (chromosome 2A and 2D) and two for xanthophyll (chromosome 3B and 7A). This research was successful in identifying microsatellite markers that are capable of predicting PPO activity levels and Xanthophyll content within the backcross populations. These microsatellites were validated as useful markers for these quality traits, as they have also found to be important in the Sunco x Tasman doubled haploid population. The combination of marker assisted selection and backcrossing has generated three lines that contain different combinations of the PPO activity and Xanthophyll content QTLs. These lines have been found to produce low levels of PPO activity and have a low Xanthophyll content. This improvement in flour colour and colour stability highlights the potential of marker assisted selection as a useful tool in wheat breeding.

The present study argues for a generic approach to the study of the representation of Chinese society in a selection of Australian fiction and non-fiction writings, based on the assumption that how China is represented is as important as what is represented. The three works that will be used to represent travel literature, journalism and the novel are: The East Is Red by Maslyn Williams, Real Life China by Richard Thwaites, and the Avenue of Eternal Peace by Nicholas Jose, all of which have been written by contemporary Australian writers. The study re-examines the obligations and meanings inherent in each of these genres, and discusses .these writers' individual ways of experimenting with the genres in which they write in order to cope with the complexity, ambiguity, and the fictionally of reality. These works are analysed in detail within two frameworks: the writers' relationships to their writings, and the relationship between the text and the external world, leading to the realization of the increasingly important role writers' consciousness plays in reshaping and fictionalizing their personal experience, as well as the recognition of the increasingly important role fictionalization plays in the representation of Chinese society in both fiction and non-fiction writings.

The Chinese inbound tourism market to Australia has been acknowledged as an emerging market and a major export earner. However, Australian inbound tour operators experience difficulties in establishing and developing viable partner relationships with Chinese travel agents. Recognising the size, importance and complexity of this market, the major purpose of this research is to explore and investigate the crucial process of developing Sino-Australian partnership relationships in the tourism industry, and to educate Australian tourism operatives about this process to facilitate the establishment of business relationships with Chinese travel agents. Hence, the principal research question posed in this thesis is: How might Australian tourism product suppliers and marketers establish and maintain partnership relationships with Chinese travel agents to help Australia become a preferred tourist destination for Chinese tourists? This study is exploratory in nature and draws on applied marketing, management and cross-cultural theories on networking to explore the process of developing partnership relationships in the Chinese inbound tourism market to Australia. The literature on networking, and the development of networking relationships, has been theorised drawing principally on the marketing and management literature. The impact of cross-cultural differences and the effect of guanxi (connection), a key feature of Chinese business networking, on partnership relations between Chinese travel agents and Australian inbound tour operators, is also reviewed and discussed. One of the main contributions of this research is its multidisciplinary nature, drawing on relationship marketing and network theories and applying them to tourism research. Little research has been undertaken into tourism-based partnership relations in the cross-national context. Given the limited research conducted on this topic and its cross-cultural nature, a qualitative research method was adopted for this study. Specifically, this study utilised in-depth interviewing techniques to explore the relationships between Australian inbound tour operators and Chinese travel agents. This study identifies that the process of developing partnership relationships between Chinese travel agents and Australian inbound tour operators is, as expected, highly culturally embedded but in unexpected ways. Although all the Australian inbound tour operators in the study are of Chinese descent, they have adapted to Australian culture and business ethics, giving rise to communication problems that affect partnership relationships. A new stage model of the development of partnership relationships between Australian inbound tour operators and Chinese travel agents is therefore developed by incorporating cross-cultural factors into Western theories on networking and relationship marketing. In particular, the thesis identifies important factors in each stage of the process of developing business relationships. For example, resilient trust and mutual commitment, the pricing issue, word-of-mouth, and quality of services are all considered crucial in attaining long-term stable partnership relationships. Disproving popular myths about guanxi in some of the previous literature, the findings from this research demonstrate that, in China's economic transition period, guanxi plays a significant, but not decisive role in the process of developing partnership relationships between Chinese travel agents and Australian inbound tour operators. However, guanxi relationships can provide added value to the partnership relationships of Australian operators.

Nearly two-thirds of Australians and up to half of all Chinese are overweight. Global obesity figures have tripled since 1975 (WHO, 2018b), which demonstrates that obesity is a major global health problem. It is critical to examine how print media represent obesity because they influence public understanding of the problem. It is also essential to determine ways to improve health journalism and health outcomes. While there is a significant body of literature that has examined representations of obesity in the Australian press through mixed approaches, there is a deficit of media research into how China’s press has represented this issue. This study investigated how obesity was represented in two national newspapers—China Daily and The Australian—between 2013 and 2018. Content analysis was performed to reveal the types and frequency of obesity-related news items regarding causes, determinants, impacts, solutions and sources. Additionally, discourse analysis was undertaken to qualitatively reveal the framing of obesity based on findings from the content analysis. China Daily was selected because it is China’s largest-selling national daily English-language newspaper, while The Australian is Australia’s largest daily national newspaper. More than 1000 news items on obesity published in the two newspapers between 2013 and 2018 were retrieved through Factiva. Content analysis uncovered that obesity was under-presented in both newspapers. Individual causes and solutions were the most prominent news items in both newspapers, whereas genetic and biological determinants were less likely to be presented. For childhood obesity, parental determinants appeared more often than social determinants. Findings from the discourse analysis found three prominent frames—legitimation, responsibility and stereotype—in which individual responsibility was highlighted, while social responsibility was backgrounded. Individual responsibility and blaming were the dominant discourses in both newspapers. Further, stereotypes, weight stigma and the thin ideal discourse were mentioned in the news items. Framing analysis revealed that news items on obesity tended to shift health costs onto individuals rather than highlight the responsibility of the food and drink industries. The presence of stereotype frames was greater in China Daily than The Australian.

This thesis examines how Australian Chinese communities engage with dating apps Tinder and Tantan. With digital ethnographic approaches, it investigates the experiences of 23 interview participants - mainly young first-generation migrants from mainland China - on Tinder and Tantan in Australia. In doing so, it generates empirical evidences for research focusing on dating apps and dating practices among young Chinese people living in Australia. It deepens our understandings of how ethnic, sexual, and gender-related dynamics afforded by digital technologies intersect with Chinese identity negotiations.

Children's sensitivity to the emotions expressed by their peers, and their knowledge of the display rules that govern the manifestation of facial expressions, are crucial for their social interactions and development. In compliance with display rules, the facial expressions displayed (i.e., apparent emotion) may be incongruent with the emotion experienced (i.e., real emotion). This dissertation investigated Chinese and Australian children's abilities to recognise facial expressions of emotion and to understand display rules in the two cultures. Children's acquisition of these two skills demonstrates emotional competence (Saami, 1999). Participants were 144 Chinese children living in Hong Kong ( 49 percent were boys and 51 percent were girls; 82 four-year-olds and 62 six-year-olds), and 176 Caucasian children living in Australia (56 percent were boys and 44 percent were girls; 80 four-year-olds and 96 six-year-olds). The children were recruited from 17 kindergartens, preschools, child-care centres, and primary schools in Hong Kong and Brisbane, Australia. All children were tested individually. In Study One, all children were presented with a set of facial stimuli displayed by Chinese children (C-FACE) and an equivalent set displayed by Caucasian children (A-FACE). Each set of facial stimuli consisted of seven photographs depicting facial expressions of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, shame and neutrality. The two sets were presented in random order and children were asked to select the photograph depicting each emotion as it was requested by the experimenter. This permits the examination of both in-group perception (i.e., the observer and the displayer of the same culture) and out-group perception (i.e., the observer and the displayer of different cultures). The Chinese set of children's facial expressions of emotion (C-FACE) was constructed specifically for this research. The Caucasian set of children's facial expressions of emotion (A-FACE) was developed by Field and Walden (1982). In Study Two, hypothetical stories that elicit the application of display rules were presented to both Chinese and Australian children. The stories were audio-taped and varied in terms of cultural contexts (i.e., Chinese versus Australian contexts), appropriateness for emotional regulation (i.e., non-regulation versus regulation), emotional valence (i.e., negative versus positive), and the explicitness of motivation for emotional regulation (i.e., implicit versus explicit). Children were asked to select from an array of five different facial expressions both the real emotion experienced, and the apparent emotion shown by the story character. These photographs were from the C-FACE and A-FACE sets used in Study 1. C-FACE was used with Chinese context stories and A-FACE with Australian context stories. Chinese and Australian 6-year-olds were significantly more accurate than 4-year-olds in the recognition of facial expressions of emotion displayed by both in-group and out-group peers. Six-year-old children also had a significantly better understanding of display rules than the 4-year-olds. It seems likely that cognitive factors such as improved perceptual skills and the development of a theory of mind, and socialisation factors such as exposure to and the acquisition of emotional scripts may account for the age differences. Both cultural similarities and differences were found in children's understanding of emotional expressions and display rules. In Study 1, Australian 4-year-olds were more accurate than Chinese 4-year-olds in out-group perception, possibly because of the multicultural experience of Australian children. However, increasing the amount of exposure to Chinese peers did not increase the Australian children's accuracy of out-group perception. In Study 2, Chinese children gave more dissembled responses (i.e., selected different real and apparent emotions) than Australian children, who most often indicated the expression of genuine emotion (i.e., selected the same real and apparent emotion). Chinese and Australian children also had different interpretations of the emotion experienced by the story character in the Chinese context and they used different regulation strategies in a positive context. The provision of an explicit statement about emotional regulation in the story enhanced Australian children's performance without making any difference for Chinese children. These results are consistent with the strength of different cultural demands for emotional inhibition across the two cultures. There was also evidence of cultural similarities. Both Chinese and Australian children demonstrated that happiness, sadness and anger were more frequently recognised than neutrality and shame when they were displayed by in-group peers. Fear and surprise were least frequently identified and reciprocally confused by the two cultural groups. In addition, 6-year-old girls from both cultures were more accurate than their boy counterparts in out-group perception. Moreover, both Chinese and Australian. children had a better understanding of non-regulation and negative contexts than regulation and positive contexts. The present research also found that both Chinese and Australian children were more accurate in recognising facial expressions of emotion displayed by in-group members than out-group members. Both Chinese and Australian children also applied their own cultural display rules in the interpretation of emotional behaviour in another cultural context. These two factors may account for some of the misunderstandings that arise in inter-cultural communications. Overall, the results suggest that the abilities to recognise facial expressions of emotion and understand display rules could be influenced by the age and culture of the subjects, and the culture of the stimuli. In assessing children's ability to understand facial expressions of emotion and the application of display rules it is therefore important to use stimuli from the same ethnic group.

This study presents a narrative inquiry of Chinese nursing students at Australian universities in order to examine these students’ motivations, learning experiences and future career planning. Australia seeks to attract international nursing students from China to maintain its economic advantage and alleviate its projected nursing shortage. In contrast, China desperately needs its best and brightest citizens who have trained abroad as nurses to return to China in order to cope with its current challenges in the healthcare system and nursing education. Little is known about the underlying factors that motivate Chinese nursing students to study in Australia, these students’ learning experiences at Australian universities, and whether or not these students will return to China after graduation. This study undertook a narrative inquiry using the three-dimensional space narrative structure approach, with an epistemological perspective drawing on constructivist and interpretivist theory. Through interviews, the authentic voices of six participants’ stories were collected to capture the entire emotional, social, intellectual and reflective processes of each student’s motivations, learning experiences and future career plans. The research findings from this study are presented as both narrative and thematic representations. By exploring and representing each theme and narrative that emerged from the field texts, meaning was unpacked to provide insights to the ‘reality’ as seen by the study participants. The findings revealed that the students’ key motivation to study in Australia was related to the possibility of permanent residency post-qualification. The decision to move was dynamic, with the participants describing cultural and social push and pull factors. Encouragement and support from peers and family were strong contributors to the motivation to study nursing and eventually work and live in Australia. Parents played an especially vital role in this decision-making process. In addition, the participants expressed a strong desire to maximise Australia’s opportunities and cultural experiences. The participants’ experience of studying in Australia was characterised by the need to learn a new language, feeling lost in a new education system vastly different to the one at home, the challenge of making new friends and socialising, and eventually successfully completing their study and attaining their goals. The experience of being an international student was not described as easy. It requires taking risks, courage, determination, motivation and persistence to succeed. Through their lived experiences and reflections of their learning journey in Australia, the six participants reconstructed their personal identity and worldviews, which ultimately helped them locate their place in Australia. The conclusion of the participants’ journey highlighted that their learning experiences have particular implications for international education, healthcare development, future educational connections and investment globally. The insight gained from this study can support the development of successful human capital investment strategies for all parties involved. In the field of international student education, nursing education is relatively understudied. This thesis presents insight into the reality of international student migration through the lens of individual actors in the process, the students themselves.

Exploring the Relationships Between Individualism and Collectivism and Attitudes Towards Counselling Among Ethnic Chinese, Australian, and American University Students Compensating for reduced public funding, Australian and American universities actively recruit full-fee paying East Asian international students. University staff, aware of international students having difficulties coping with cultural and emotional issues, often encourage them to seek university counselling services. However, East Asian international students under-utilise Western universities’ counselling services. It has been argued that the Western concept of counselling reflects Western cultural values, in particular individualism. Thus the reluctance of international students from more collectivistic cultures to seek counselling services may in part be due to a clash of cultural values. Over a decade ago, Draguns hypothesised the existence of a relationship between Hofstede’s cultural dimensions of individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity, and their influence on individuals’ attitudes towards psychopathology and treatment modalities. The current study sought to offer empirical support for Draguns’ hypothesis as it related to individualism and power distance, and to attitudes towards counselling. In place of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this study used the Triandis cultural concepts of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism. Using the Triandis Individualism Collectivism Scale (ICS) and the Tinsley Expectations about Counseling-Brief Form (EAC-B)questionnaire, the current study explores the relationship between levels of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism, and attitudes towards the roles of counsellors, the roles of clients, and the process and goals of counselling. The research is based on data collected from three cultural groups: ethnic Chinese international students attending Australian universities, and Australian and American university students enrolled in their home countries. This study is unusual in cross-cultural research owing to its use of the Rasch extended logistic model of modern item response theory (IRT) as a means of validating the data prior to standard statistical analysis. Whereas classical test theory emphasises the model fitting the data, the Rasch model of IRT requires that the data fit the model to be considered valid. Psychometric analysis of the ICS found its four scales separately fit the Rasch model quite well, as did three modified scales of the EAC-B. The IRT analysis also provided a means of identifying differential item functioning (DIF), that is, items functioning differently (demonstrating bias) among the three cultural groups. Using the EAC-B to collect pre and post-intervention data, the current study assessed the effectiveness of a videotape intervention as a means of changing within and between-group attitudes towards counselling. It was anticipated that ethnic Chinese participants, representing the group with the least familiarity with counselling, would show the greatest change in counselling attitudes as a result of the intervention. Americans were expected to show the least change, and Australian participants to be in the middle position. Based on the findings, the intervention did not significantly alter the participants’ attitudes towards counselling regardless of their cultural background. Overall, the intervention served to strengthen existing attitudes. Lastly as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of the quantitative findings, the study collected qualitative data from the participants and from university counsellors. These findings indicated that there was a general lack of knowledge about university counselling services even among those participants who were familiar with counselling as a concept. Participants, in general, expressed reservations about seeking counselling due to concerns of being seen by friends. This was particularly true for the Chinese. Chinese participants also expressed scepticism towards a non-Chinese counsellor’s ability to understand their problems. In reference to Draguns’ hypothesis, overall the findings from this study supported his model. The findings indicated that individuals endorsing collectivistic attitudes expressed a strong preference for counsellors who were direct, expert-like, and helped clients seek concrete solutions to their problems. The study also found that an individual’s expressions of cultural dimensions, such as vertical collectivism, were better predictors of counsellor preference than an individual’s cultural background. These findings have implications for university policy makers who are responsible for ensuring the existence of an infrastructure capable of meeting the needs of the international students they so actively recruit. This would include appropriate funding for an adequate and diverse counselling staff extending itself to the university community. There are also implications for counsellor education programs in recognising the link between cultural variables and client expectations.

A sample of 208 nurses (a response rate of 63%) participated in a study by responding to a questionnaire comprising of 170 items which examined nurses’ attitudes towards mental illness, and the association between contact, cultural values, general and practice stigma. General stigma refers to attitudes towards the mentally ill while practice stigma is informed from differential clinical practice approaches towards the care of two case vignettes describing a patient with mental illness and one with diabetes. Subjects were recruited using the snowballing technique and comprised of nurses (83 Anglo Psychiatric, 41 Anglo General, 49 Chinese Psychiatric and 35 Chinese General) currently practising in Victoria. Age ranged from 21 to 65 years. Principal components analyses were conducted on items to develop subscales related to individualism and collectivism, contact types, general and practice stigma. Analyses of variance and covariance were conducted to examine differences between nurse type and ethnicity and respectively, to account for possible differences in background, contact and in the case of practice stigma, general stigma.
The key findings revealed differences according to nurse type and ethnicity in several of the subscales. Psychiatric nurses endorsed a higher level of contact than general nurses with mentally ill people on the variables ‘Contact Through Work Situation’, ‘Patient Help Nurses’ and ‘External Socialisation with Patient’, but not on the variable ‘Relative With Mental Illness’. By virtue of more contact, psychiatric nurses also endorsed less general stigma than general nurses, assessed by results from analysing social distancing, but not by negative stereotyping of people with mental illness. With respect to practice stigma, while care and satisfaction did not differ according to patient type and nurse type, psychiatric nurses expressed less authoritarianism and negativity than general nurses towards the mental illness case than general nurses while lesser differences between nurse types were evident for the diabetes case. Chinese nurses when compared with Anglo-Australian nurses, endorsed more highly collectivist values measured by the variables ‘Ingroup Interdependence’ and ‘Ingroup Role Concern’ but there was no difference in individualist values. This may reflect acculturation towards Western values but also retention of Chinese values, interpreted in the light of other results on cultural affiliation, as a bicultural position. Chinese nurses endorsed more highly general stigma towards the mentally ill than Anglo nurses when statistically controlling for differences in background demographics and contact factors.
Nursing satisfaction did not differ in ethnicity and patient type. Chinese nurses endorsed more highly care and authoritarianism in their clinical practice approaches than Anglo-Australian nurses, although there was no significant interaction effect between ethnicity and patient type on care and authoritarianism. Chinese nurses endorsed more highly negativity than Anglo-Australian nurses for the mental illness case than the diabetes case, an effect later shown to be mediated by differences in general stigma between the two ethnic groups. Within the Chinese sample, higher contact was associated with lower differential negativity for the mental illness than the diabetes case. Several path analyses suggested Chinese values influenced differential negativity, mediated by general stigma and prior diversified contact with people having a mental illness.
It may be concluded from these results that practice stigma is related to cultural values but the relationship is mediated by general stigma and contact. What aspect of the Chinese values specifically correlates with general stigma remains a question for further research, but several possibilities are discussed.

Compensating for reduced public funding, Australian and American universities actively recruit full-fee paying East Asian international students. University staff, aware of international students having difficulties coping with cultural and emotional issues, often encourage them to seek university counselling services. However, East Asian international students under-utilise Western universities? counselling services. It has been argued that the Western concept of counselling reflects Western cultural values, in particular individualism. Thus the reluctance of international students from more collectivistic cultures to seek counselling services may in part be due to a clash of cultural values. Over a decade ago, Draguns hypothesised the existence of a relationship between Hofstede's cultural dimensions of individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity, and their influence on individuals' attitudes towards psychopathology and treatment modalities. The current study sought to offer empirical support for Draguns' hypothesis as it related to individualism and power distance, and to attitudes towards counselling. In place of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, this study used the Triandis cultural concepts of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism. Using the Triandis Individualism Collectivism Scale (ICS) and the Tinsley Expectations about Counseling-Brief Form (EAC-B)questionnaire, the current study explores the relationship between levels of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism, and attitudes towards the roles of counsellors, the roles of clients, and the process and goals of counselling. The research is based on data collected from three cultural groups: ethnic Chinese international students attending Australian universities, and Australian and American university students enrolled in their home countries. This study is unusual in cross-cultural research owing to its use of the Rasch extended logistic model of modern item response theory (IRT) as a means of validating the data prior to standard statistical analysis. Whereas classical test theory emphasises the model fitting the data, the Rasch model of IRT requires that the data fit the model to be considered valid. Psychometric analysis of the ICS found its four scales separately fit the Rasch model quite well, as did three modified scales of the EAC-B. The IRT analysis also provided a means of identifying differential item functioning (DIF), that is, items functioning differently (demonstrating bias) among the three cultural groups. Using the EAC-B to collect pre and post-intervention data, the current study assessed the effectiveness of a videotape intervention as a means of changing within and between-group attitudes towards counselling. It was anticipated that ethnic Chinese participants, representing the group with the least familiarity with counselling, would show the greatest change in counselling attitudes as a result of the intervention. Americans were expected to show the least change, and Australian participants to be in the middle position. Based on the findings, the intervention did not significantly alter the participants' attitudes towards counselling regardless of their cultural background. Overall, the intervention served to strengthen existing attitudes. Lastly as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of the quantitative findings, the study collected qualitative data from the participants and from university counsellors. These findings indicated that there was a general lack of knowledge about university counselling services even among those participants who were familiar with counselling as a concept. Participants, in general, expressed reservations about seeking counselling due to concerns of being seen by friends. This was particularly true for the Chinese. Chinese participants also expressed scepticism towards a non-Chinese counsellor's ability to understand their problems. In reference to Draguns' hypothesis, overall the findings from this study supported his model. The findings indicated that individuals endorsing collectivistic attitudes expressed a strong preference for counsellors who were direct, expert-like, and helped clients seek concrete solutions to their problems. The study also found that an individual's expressions of cultural dimensions, such as vertical collectivism, were better predictors of counsellor preference than an individual's cultural background. These findings have implications for university policy makers who are responsible for ensuring the existence of an infrastructure capable of meeting the needs of the international students they so actively recruit. This would include appropriate funding for an adequate and diverse counselling staff extending itself to the university community. There are also implications for counsellor education programs in recognising the link between cultural variables and client expectations.

Compensating for reduced public funding, Australian and American universities actively recruit full-fee paying East Asian international students. University staff, aware of international students having difficulties coping with cultural and emotional issues, often encourage them to seek university counselling services. However, East Asian international students under-utilise Western universities? counselling services. It has been argued that the Western concept of counselling reflects Western cultural values, in particular individualism. Thus the reluctance of international students from more collectivistic cultures to seek counselling services may in part be due to a clash of cultural values. Over a decade ago, Draguns hypothesised the existence of a relationship between Hofstede's cultural dimensions of individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity, and their influence on individuals' attitudes towards psychopathology and treatment modalities. The current study sought to offer empirical support for Draguns' hypothesis as it related to individualism and power distance, and to attitudes towards counselling. In place of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, this study used the Triandis cultural concepts of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism. Using the Triandis Individualism Collectivism Scale (ICS) and the Tinsley Expectations about Counseling-Brief Form (EAC-B)questionnaire, the current study explores the relationship between levels of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism, and attitudes towards the roles of counsellors, the roles of clients, and the process and goals of counselling. The research is based on data collected from three cultural groups: ethnic Chinese international students attending Australian universities, and Australian and American university students enrolled in their home countries. This study is unusual in cross-cultural research owing to its use of the Rasch extended logistic model of modern item response theory (IRT) as a means of validating the data prior to standard statistical analysis. Whereas classical test theory emphasises the model fitting the data, the Rasch model of IRT requires that the data fit the model to be considered valid. Psychometric analysis of the ICS found its four scales separately fit the Rasch model quite well, as did three modified scales of the EAC-B. The IRT analysis also provided a means of identifying differential item functioning (DIF), that is, items functioning differently (demonstrating bias) among the three cultural groups. Using the EAC-B to collect pre and post-intervention data, the current study assessed the effectiveness of a videotape intervention as a means of changing within and between-group attitudes towards counselling. It was anticipated that ethnic Chinese participants, representing the group with the least familiarity with counselling, would show the greatest change in counselling attitudes as a result of the intervention. Americans were expected to show the least change, and Australian participants to be in the middle position. Based on the findings, the intervention did not significantly alter the participants' attitudes towards counselling regardless of their cultural background. Overall, the intervention served to strengthen existing attitudes. Lastly as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of the quantitative findings, the study collected qualitative data from the participants and from university counsellors. These findings indicated that there was a general lack of knowledge about university counselling services even among those participants who were familiar with counselling as a concept. Participants, in general, expressed reservations about seeking counselling due to concerns of being seen by friends. This was particularly true for the Chinese. Chinese participants also expressed scepticism towards a non-Chinese counsellor's ability to understand their problems. In reference to Draguns' hypothesis, overall the findings from this study supported his model. The findings indicated that individuals endorsing collectivistic attitudes expressed a strong preference for counsellors who were direct, expert-like, and helped clients seek concrete solutions to their problems. The study also found that an individual's expressions of cultural dimensions, such as vertical collectivism, were better predictors of counsellor preference than an individual's cultural background. These findings have implications for university policy makers who are responsible for ensuring the existence of an infrastructure capable of meeting the needs of the international students they so actively recruit. This would include appropriate funding for an adequate and diverse counselling staff extending itself to the university community. There are also implications for counsellor education programs in recognising the link between cultural variables and client expectations.

This thesis proposes a new approach to film dialogue translation (FDT) with special reference to the translation process and quality of English-to-Chinese dubbing. In response to the persistent translation failures that led to widespread criticism of dubbed films and TV plays in China for their artificial 'translation talk', this study provides a pragmatic methodology derived from the integration of the theories and analytical systems of information flow in the tradition of the functionalist approach to speech and writing with the relevant theoretical and empirical findings from TS and other related branches of linguistics. It has developed and validated a translation model (FITNIATS) which makes the intonation unit (IU) the central unit of film dialogue translation. Arguing that any translation which treats dubbing as a simple script-to-script process, without transferring the prosodic properties of the spoken words into the commensurate functions of TL, is incomplete, the thesis demonstrates that, in order to reduce confusion and loss of meaning/rhythm, the SL dialogue should be rendered in the IUs with the stressed syllables well-timed in TL to keep the corresponding information foci in sync with the visual message. It shows that adhering to the sentence-to-sentence formula as the translation metastrategy with the information structure of the original film dialogue permuted can result in serious stylistic as well as communicative problems. Five key theoretical issues in TS are addressed in the context of FDT, viz., the relations between micro-structure and macro-structure translation perspectives, foreignizing vs. domesticating translation, the unit of translation, the levels of translation equivalence and the criteria for evaluating translation quality. lf equivalent effect is to be achieved in all relevant dimensions, it is argued that 'FITness criteria' need to be met in film translation assessment, and four such criteria arc proposed. This study demonstrates that prosody and word order, as sensitive indices of the information flow which occurs in film dialogue through the creation and perception of meaning, can provide a basis for minimizing cross-linguistic discrepancies and compensating for loss of the FIT functions, especially where conflicts arise between the syntactic and/or medium constraints and the adequate transfer of cultural-specific content and style. The implications of the model for subtitling arc also made explicit.