Linguistic representation of spatial and temporal orientation: Structured variation among Chinese university students

This study was built around three tasks that investigate how 163 Chinese university students use basic terms of spatial orientation: (1) a temporal extension task where students choose a pair of orientational terms, either vertical or horizontal, to represent the temporal concepts 'before/after'; (2) a deictic perspective task where students locate an object from either a non-deictic perspective (using orientation in the reference object) or a deictic perspective (using the speaker's orientation); (3) a deictic imagery task where students locate an object with either in-tandem imagery (facing away from the speaker) or face-to-face imagery (facing toward the speaker).;There were four independent variables: level of English (the students were divided into low and high bilinguals), gender (male versus female), geographic background (whether the students were from rural or urban areas), and the medium of language (Chinese or English) they used in doing the tasks. The research investigated the effects of these independent variables in relation to the three dependent variables.;The research findings established a positive relationship among the three dependent variables: for example, students who responded with vertical terms on the extension task were more likely to use a non-deictic perspective and in-tandem imagery on the other two tasks. The results also demonstrated significant effects of the four independent variables on the dependent variables: for example, the above three responses were used significantly more among (1) males as opposed to females; (2) rural students as opposed to urban students; (3) students with a low level of English as opposed to those with a high level; (4) students responding in Chinese as opposed to those responding in English. As indicated by these results, these responses--vertical terms for time, a non-deictic perspective, and in-tandem imagery--can be viewed as constituting more traditional (i.e., less Western) norms. In summary, this research demonstrates that variation in the responses of Chinese university students is structured in predictable ways.