Int. J. Inierculiural Rel.. Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 211-225. 1995
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ABSTRACT
INSIDE CHINA: MORRIS, 1956
BEYOND CHINA: THE CHINESE CULTURE CONNECTION, 1987
INSIDE CHINA: GARROTT, 1991

INSTRUMENT DESIGN
NEXUS  LANGUAGE, CULTURE, WORLD, VIEW
METHOD
UNITS OF ANALYSIS
RESULTS

ABSTRACT. To identify as fully as possible for pedagogical purposes the characteristics of Chinese students of
English whom foreign teachers of English can expect to encounter in typical Chinese college classrooms, an anonymous two-part descriptive survey of cultural values and of attitudes toward English-language learning and teaching was administered cross-sectionally in Chinese and in English to 512 men and women in 15 colleges or universities. Quantitative data from the semistructured and open-ended questionnaire were subjected 10 statistical analysis at two levels: (a) that of culture and (b) that of demographics. Qualitative data generated by verbatim student comments allow analysis at a -third level: that of the individual. A I the culture level, students exhibit a strong tendency toward individualism, rather than toward the collectivism generally associated with traditional Chinese society. T-tesis and chi-square procedures demonstrate that males and females, younger and older students, English majors and non-English majors do—quite literally—inhabit different perceptual worlds. Evidence of such student diversity and complexity calls into question the usefulness of labels that polarize populationsand highlightstherisks of stereotyping.

Although observations on Chinese traditional culture and character abound and though studies related to Chinese values or to the attitudes of Chinese students regarding English-language study appear in scholarly publications, virtually all reports—whether from Chinese or from non-Chinese—are based on historically received wisdom (Hsu, 1981) or on investigations carried out elsewhere than in mainland China by experts in the disciplines of science or the liberal arts (Allinson, 1989; Oller, Hudson, & Liu, 1977; Pierson & Fu, 1982; Tu, Hejtmanek, & Wachman, 1992; Yang, 1987).

Experts on the teaching of English in China have shed welcome light on the subject (Dzau, 1990; Maley, 1983; Scovel, 1982; Scovel.1983; Yu, 1984). However, with the exception of cross-sectional research into the values of college students in China in 1948 which Morris (1956) undertook, another group of experts on Chinese values—the students themselves—has been virtually ignored.

Prior to the study on which this article is based (Garrott, 1991), values of Chinese college students had not been investigated systematically in China for 40 years, and student attitudes toward English-language study in China had never receive cross-sectional, systematic attention. This paper features three survey studies of Chinese values and contrasts contexts of survey administration, instrumentation, levels of data analysis, and resultant claims made. Specifically, the present study simultaneously addresses interconnections among language, culture, and world view, in that students are asked, in effect, "How do you see the world of traditional Chinese values?" and "How do you see the world of English-language study?"

Morris's early Ways to Live survey will be treated first, followed by an overview of administration of the Chinese Values Survey (CVS) by the Chinese Culture Connection (1987) beyond the borders of China. Third will appear a report on the administration of the CVS and a questionnaire on student attitudes toward English-language study in China.

In 1948, on the eve of an unsettled period of time lasting almost 30 years in China (Karnow, 1990; Spence, 1990), Morris undertook a cross-sectional survey of the values of college students by means of an instrument he called Ways to Live; it included 13 ways in which persons throughout history have chosen to orient their lives. Among the choices can be found Way 1 —Preserve the best that man has attained—and Way 12—Chance adventuresome deeds (Morris, 1956, p. 1). Morris employed additional validating measures, such as individual interviews with selected students and student impressions of art works. Also, he asked for information regarding sex, age, height, weight, physical disabilities, and early childhood experiences of the students, as well as economic and religious data related to their parents.

Ways to Live documents were collected from 523 men and 220 women representing "the main geographical regions of China except Manchuria" (Morris, 1956, p. 8). Morris writes (p. 58) that "the distinctive feature of the Chinese material" is the high value assigned to Way 13—Obey the cosmic purposes—and to Way 5—Act and enjoy life through group participation.

Morris (p. 113) reports connections found between students' physiques and their values preferences, using categories of endomorphy, mesomor-phy, ectomorphy, and body size, as well as categories of sex and age. Working within that Nature vs. Nurture framework, Morris (p. 65) perceives a contrast to be drawn "between the more self-centered orientation of the Western students and the more society-centered orientation of the Asiatic students." Thus, Morris can be seen as a pioneer in cultural studies dealing with issues of Individualism vs. Collectivism (Triandis, 1964; Triandis, Bontempo, et al. 1986; Triandis, Bontempo, Kwok, & Hui, 1990; Hui & Villareal, 1989; Wheeler, Reis, & Bond, 1989; Hof-siede, 1991).

Two major limitations call into question, however, any claim that Morris makes. First, orthogonal factor analyses were performed only on data from 250 male students in China (Morris, 1956, p. 34), with ratings of the women students introduced later "for comparison" (p. 41). For Morris, man was, indeed, the measure of all things! Even more telling is the fact that Morris draws his East-West contrast on the basis of flawed data, three times (pp. 36, 39, 58) noting that an error in translation occurred for top-ranked Way 13—Obey the cosmic purposes—when it was put into Chinese from the .original English. Because the Way receiving the highest loadings was mistranslated, the error confounds both the raring and the ranking by Chinese students. Readers can decide the extent 10 which they care to honor Morris's claims to have attained a cross-cultural interval scale for measuring values and the accumulation of a "body of evidence supporting in its totality a field concept of values" (p. 184). Attention now turns to a cross-cultural investigation of Chinese cultural values carried out beyond China 40 years after the work of Morris in China, that undertaken by The Chinese Culture Connection.

Consulting several Chinese social scientists, in time Bond developed the CVS, a list of 40 brief concepts representing basic values for Chinese people. The aim of CVS development, writes Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 145) was to create an instrument that tapped concerns fundamental to "the Chinese world view." Instructions directed respondents to consider each of the 40 items separately and to indicate the importance of each on a 9-point scale ranging from 9—"Of supreme importance to me"—to 1— "of no importance to me at all." "The scale required about 5 minutes to complete," writes Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 148). The goal was to collect responses from at least 50 males and 50 females from as wide a range of university undergraduate majors as possible for each of 22 countries.

The unit of analysis for the 22 "nation-cultures" was the "nation-state," notes Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 148). Elsewhere, Bond (1991b, p. 137) explains that such studies fall within the "holocultural tradition," wherein cultures are treated as units and culture scores on variables of interest are related to one another. Recognizing that analysis at the level of culture may yield results different from those produced at lower levels of analysis, Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 149) says, "Instead, one is confined to discussing differences among the cultures themselves."

Referring to a correlation between Hofstede's (1980) results and CVS results regarding power distance and individualism, Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 155) suggests calling Collectivism a factor that appears only after analysis of the CVS data. Collectivism, in this view, involves an emphasis on maintaining group cohesion rather than on self-seeking. Reporting on relationships perceived between gross national product and evidences of individualism and masculinity. Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 155) sees the result as "extremely important" in light of speculation on the post-Confucian hypothesis: "The conjecture that fundamental aspects of Confucian social philosophy are responsible for the stunning economic development of Oriental cultures with a Chinese heritage." Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 159) claims that the results of the Chinese Culture Connection study have "clearly added considerable credence" to the post-Confucian hypothesis and that the CVS helps focus discussions of the hypothesis "because only certain of the Confucian values are predictive of such growth."

Two theory-driven studies of Chinese values at the culture level have now been presented in some detail, studies in which correlation and cross-validation are highly valued and in which prediction is the goal. Both Morris and Bond see congruence between cultural values and societal conditions, and both claim to have isolated certain value dimensions. Morris finds evidence of full support for a scientific theory, and Bond finds evidence to increase credence in a scientific hypothesis.

Attention now turns to a descriptive study also investigating Chinese values scientifically, not only at the culture level but also according to demographics of sex, age, and major field of study. Here, too, correlation and cross-validation are valued, but illumination is the goal, and a scientific supposition is tested.

After having taught English as a foreign expert in Shanghai and Beijing from 1985 to 1988, I designed the descriptive survey study under consideration in response to perceived challenges from scholars in the fields of foreign language education (Strevens, 1987), psychology (Yang, 1987), and science (Kuhn, 1970). Representing concluding panelists at a Beijing symposium on intensive English-language training in China, Strevens extended essentially the following challenge (Garrott, 1991, p. 10):

One vital pan of this assessment process is conspicuous by its absence. What do students think about these programs? What are their disappointments? What do they feel good about? What improvements would they like to see implemented? We need to ask the students what they think about their English-study programs, and we need to listen to their answers.

Strevens's call has been echoed by others, such as Yang (1987). Reviewing empirical research on Chinese personality, including Morris's work, Yang has this to say (1987, p. 119):

In order to obtain a better picture of such [values] preferences in Chinese students, more representative samples should be tested in typical Chinese societies. While no such research has been possible in mainland China since 1948, several studies have been completed in Taiwan.

Kuhn also addresses issues at the heart of the study under consideration. Regarding education and speaking of persons who live in the same society, Kuhn has this to say (1970, p. 193):

To the extent, of course, that individuals belong to the same group and thus share education, language, experience, and culture, we have good reason to suppose that their sensations are the same.

Intrigued by the Strevens challenge to seek student opinion on language study, motivated by the Yang remark to see whether survey research could be carried out in China in 1988, and invigorated at the thought of testing Kuhn's supposition and collecting values data 40 years after Morris, I determined to attempt a simultaneous cross-sectional, systematic, descriptive investigation of cultural values and of attitudes toward English-language study among college students.

Respondents share language and culture, and they belong to a group identified as Chinese college students of English. Though their past educational and sociopsychological experiences may differ, their present educational and sociopsychological experiences are reasonably homogeneous. Under such conditions," data derived from these students can be used to test the extent to which Kuhn is justified in his supposition regarding their similarity of viewpoints (Kuhn, 1970).

Instrument Design

Foreign Language Education. My official translator and two Chinese colleagues helped to design a one-page questionnaire of demographics and questions related to the study of English. All questions appeared both in Chinese and in English, and students were invited to respond in the language of their choice. Open-ended questions were designed to elicit genuine student opinion such as that Strevens called for, rather than simply reflect student writing ability. Phrased conversationally, in nontechnical terms, the open-ended questions allay suspicion that the researcher is looking for any particular answer. More complete coverage of the language-study questionnaire appears elsewhere (Garrott, 1992, 1993).

Chinese Values Survey (CVS). Because the original CVS features traditional Chinese characters standard throughout the rest of the world, rather than the simplified characters standard throughout China, the CVS had to be revised slightly for use in China.

Nexus: Language, Culture, World View

Wondering whether any relationships of educational importance or statistical significance would emerge from the simultaneous administration of one instrument from the field of foreign language education and one instrument from the field of psychology, I requested cooperating colleagues to staple the two documents together. Though students would remain anonymous, demographics on the attitudes page would furnish a wealth of information about the persons whose perceptions of Chinese values were recorded on the CVS page.

Method

Twenty-three colleagues teaching in 15 colleges or universities in Shanghai, Beijing, and 9 widely scattered provinces administered the two-part instrument during regular class periods to 512 men and women in approximately equal distribution. Younger students (340 between the ages of 18 and 23) would have been between the ages of 5 and 10 when the so-called Cultural Revolution was officially declared to be over. An older group (172 between the ages of 24 and 52) would have experienced severe dislocations and interruptions in their quest for an education. Ethridge (1990, p. 248) says that the Cultural Revolution was devoted to the destruction of the "four olds": old ideas, old customs, old habits, and old culture. "There was no clear definition of 'old'; it was left to the Red Guards to decide," writes Nien Cheng (1986, p. 62), who spent 6/2 years in solitary confinement in a Shanghai prison during the Cultural Revolution. The effect of the Cultural Revolution on all aspects of life in China is difficult to overemphasize.

Units of Analysis

This article reports on data analysis carried out at two levels: (a) culture and (b) demographics of sex, age, and major field of study (English majors or non-English majors). Chi-square statistics were obtained in response to questions related to greatest and least confidence in the reading, writing, listening, and speaking of English. T-tests were performed on responses to the values survey, according to sex, age, and major field. The alpha level for statistical significance was set at .05.

Results

Though Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 148) estimates that the CVS takes about 5 minutes to complete, 41 % of the mainland Chinese students change one or more scores. The care with which most of the 211 changed original scores to more permanent ones and the wide range of scores registered strongly indicate the presence of broad student interest and responses in which a great deal of confidence can justifiably be placed.

Culture-level Analysis. Table 1 shows each of the 40 CVS concepts ranked according to student ratings. A designation of Supreme importance is based on the fact that, for each of these 14 values, the greatest percentage of students rates the item at 9.

The second greatest percentage assigns a rating of 8; the third, of 7. An invariant 9-8-7 pattern persists for these 14 items. The same method of determining rank was followed for the remaining values.

Demographic-level Analysis. Table 2 shows 23 of the 40 values for which f-tests demonstrate statistically significant differences in perceptions of importance at 39 points related to students' sex, age, and/or major field of study. English majors are represented by E; non-English majors, by N-E.

World View. Comparison of the information presented in Table 1 with that presented in Table 2 shows that data analysis at the "culture" level may, in fact, conceal more than it reveals. Because marked differences appear in values perceptions between men and women, between younger and older students, and between English majors and non-English majors, Kuhn may want to consider restructuring his supposition that persons who belong to the same group and who share education, language, experience, and culture will tend to see the world in much the same way. As Scovel (1978, p. 140) perceptively notes, "The deeper we delve into the phenomenon of language learning, the more complex the identification of particular variables becomes." Doubtless, the deeper we delve into any phenomenon, the more complex the identification of particular variables becomes.
 
 

Note: There were 512 respondents representing every province of China.

Synthesis

In line with Spolsky's (1989) notion that formal language teaching is not so much good or bad as it is appropriate or inappropriate. Table 3 is presented as suggestive of ways in which students' cultural values and their attitudes toward English-language study may interact. Implications for pedagogy can be found elsewhere (Garrott, 1991, pp. 253-263).

Discussion

Pedagogy. Given such diversity and complexity of learners, even if someone were to develop and try to promote "the best way" to teach or to learn a foreign language, the method probably would be prized by some students but despised by others. Rather than attempting to transport a certain pedagogical method en bloc from one educational setting to another, foreign teachers in China may want to employ a variety of methods. Spolsky (1989), for example, formally incorporates eclecticism into his proposed model for language learning. Strevens (1987, p. 21) defines eclecticism as "seeking aspects of the truth wherever it may be found, accepting illumination from any source . . . , keeping the mind open to new ideas, fighting dogma."

Beyond Pedagogy. Values survey results show that contemporary Chinese college students tend toward individualism to a much greater extent than analysis carried out only at the culture level would suggest. Unless Patriotism-ranked at 4—indicates social orientation, not until Solidarity with others—ranked at 15—does a ranking appear that would indicate social orientation.

Respect for tradition might involve appreciation for the collective family and social life characteristic of China for centuries, but students in the present study show little respect for Respect for tradition, ranking it at a low 33 out of 40.

Whereas Morris finds his students antithetic to modes of life directed primarily toward the self. Self-cultivation ranks at a very high 3 among contemporary Chinese students. Broader implications of the study follow.

The fact that descriptive studies possess no predictive powers should trouble no one familiar with China. Karnow (1990, p. xv), for example, claims that "only China's unpredictability is predictable," and Kristof (1991) contends that "China is among the least predictable places on earth."

Is China unique? Is less variety in human value found elsewhere?Isbehavior in other countries any more predictable than in China? Are references to "traditional Japanese culture" or to "the average European" any more valid than comments on "the average man" (Hsu, 1981, p. 3) or "the Chinese perspective" (Bond, 1991a, p. 34)? Surely not. Rather, those who value such grand generalities move within what Pye (1992, p. 230) calls "the myth of consensus," suffer from what Taylor (1992, p. 244) diagnoses as "a conceptual addiction," and promote what Seven-oaks (1994, p. 7) denounces as "cultural analysis with depth of a potato chip."

Quick and easy, stereotypes cloud rather than clarify, and labels are odious. As German poet and historian Schiller reminds us, "Only fullness leads to clarity, and truth lies in the abyss" (Holton, 1988, p. 462).

Chinese cultural values have been investigated from new angles— cross-sectional administration of a descriptive two-part survey, with multilevel data analysis. If such a method has revealed hitherto undocumented diversity and complexity and has furnished new insights regard-ins connections among language, culture, and world view of Students in typical Chinese classrooms, the survey instrument will have served its purpose well. Those who pine yet for predictability may need to recall a conviction of Albert Einstein: "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."

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