Studying the motivations of

Chinese young EFL learners

through metaphor analysis
Lixian Jin, Xiaohua Liang, Changsheng Jiang,
Jie Zhang, Yuan Yuan, and Qun Xie

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Few studies investigate ELT with young learners in China, although
conservative estimates suggest 60-million primary school children are
studying English; even fewer studies investigate Chinese young learners’ L2
motivation. This article reports on a study of English learning motivation
among Chinese primary school pupils through analysing elicited metaphors.
This innovative method can yield insights into young learners’ thinking and
feelings which a standard interview method may not reveal. One hundred
and twenty-eight pupils aged 7 and 9 years old (Y1 and Y3, respectively) from
four different Chinese primary schools who had studied English for six months
gave 362 elicited metaphors with reasoning entailments. Analysis shows
these learners are highly positive about learning English; they feel happiness
and excitement; they are influenced by interactive methods and learning
through play; and believe they attain useful and purposeful outcomes. Some
Y3 students indicated their dynamic awareness of English learning difficulties,
but believed they would still achieve desired outcomes.

Introduction English for young learners (EYL) in China involves at least 60-million
primary school children (China Education 2013) starting English at
the age of 7 or 9 years old, and there is a trend to expand this further
by lowering the starting age; this is promoted by state schools, private
schools, after school English classes, kindergartens, and parents.
However, EYL is a neglected research topic in China, even though
this stage is foundational for later levels of study. The few published
Chinese studies mainly relate to curriculum and organizational
matters and teachers’ viewpoints, or focus on immediate practices (for
example Ma and Feng 2011). There is also little empirical research
reported in this area. Thus, little is known about young learners’
views on their motivations for learning English, although learners’
perspectives are important in order to understand their language
learning and, as officially advocated, to develop more learner-centred
approaches.

286 ELT Journal Volume 68/3  July 2014; doi:10.1093/elt/ccu011

© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.
 This project looks into both the motivations of Chinese primary school
learners of English and the expectations of their parents towards the
learning of English by their children. It adopted both quantitative
and qualitative research approaches (questionnaires and interviews),
through which a particular qualitative method, Elicited Metaphor
Analysis, was used to explore the insights of these learners’ motivations
for English learning (EL). The use of this method proves to be
particularly effective to obtain data from young learners (Jin, Smith,
Yahya, Chan, Choong, Lee, Ng, Poh-Wong, and Young 2013).
This article only presents data and findings from metaphors and
entailments given by the young learners themselves. The following
sections explore theoretical concepts related to motivational studies and
the Elicited Metaphor Analysis, and give a full explanation of the data
collection methods used. The findings reveal the learners’ attitudes

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and reasons for learning English, which have implications for teaching
both EYL and older age groups in China and elsewhere. They provide
empirical evidence to impact on the practice, training, and development
of primary English teachers.

Studies of Studying motivation in language learning via social-psychological

motivation in ELT perspectives is well-established in the West (for example Gardner 1985;
Dörnyei and Ushioda 2009). The widely known distinction between
instrumental and integrative motivation has been questioned given
the complexity of likely target cultures and speakers in global English
contexts and is perhaps surpassed by the motivational self system
model (Dörnyei and Ushioda ibid.). This latter model stresses learner
identity in terms of the ‘imagined’ self as an ideal self (with attributes
the learner would like to possess) and ‘the-ought-to’ self (with attributes
the learner believes one ought to have), together with L2 learning
experience. Thus imagination, the self, and actual experiences are
jointly considered aspects relevant to methods of researching EYL.
Dörnyei and Ottó (1998: 65) define motivation as

the dynamically changing cumulative arousal in a person that

initiates, directs, coordinates, amplifies, terminates, and evaluates
the cognitive and motor processes whereby initial wishes and
desires are selected, prioritized, operationalized and (successfully or
unsuccessfully) acted out.

Here we explore through elicited metaphors what arouses young

learners of English in China to pursue, or not, their EL.

Research on L2 English learners worldwide have shown great interest in EL,

young children’s perhaps influenced by the status of English as a global language.
L2 motivation However, Dörnyei and Csizér’s (2002) large-scale quasi-longitudinal L2
motivation survey of young learners (aged 13 to 14) in Hungary at three
different time points (1993, 1999, and 2004) found a general decline in
language motivation among students in this age group.

Studies suggest that a process-oriented understanding of L2 motivation

should be more accurate and useful than treating it as a stable trait.

Metaphor analysis of Chinese young learner motivations 287

 Through questionnaires and interviews, Lamb (2004) explored the
L2 motivation of young learners (aged 11 to 12) in Indonesia where
English is widely used in the international community. The learners
were found to be highly responsive to the context and environment
of EL. More recently, Enever (2011) presented a comprehensive
investigation of young L2 learners in seven European countries
from aspects of policy, inside and outside school environments, and
teachers’ roles to learners’ attitudes, motivation, and achievements.
Personal foreign language learning experience is seen as being
important in the drive to sustain the study of L2 and children can make
steady progress despite decreasing interest and enjoyment as learning
gets harder.
The L2 motivation of young learners in China appears to be much
less enthusiastically investigated than older students’ motivation:

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few empirical studies have focused on the younger population, and
even fewer studies have been attempted on the motivation of primary
school pupils. A search using ‘primary school student English
motivation’ (in Chinese) as the key words generated less than 100
items in the CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), a large
e-journal database in mainland China, which holds about 20,000
journals. Among these, only a handful of academic outputs were
empirically based.
The published studies were mostly cross-sectional and questionnaire-
based, which means they do not offer a deep understanding of this
under-researched population. Wu and Sang (2006) investigated L2
young learners’ self-concept and claimed, without any empirical
support, that the success or failure of L2 learning was linked to self-
confidence and self-evaluation of academic ability. Li (2011) investigated
9–12-year-old students’ learning interest (in one primary school in
Guilin) through the methods of questionnaires and interviews. Results
indicated that these students’ interest in EL declined after Year 4 (when
students were aged ten).
Thus, this article aims to answer the key research questions: What does
the learning of English mean to Chinese primary school L2 learners?
What motivates them to learn English?

Research This project uses both established and more innovative research
methodology for methods to bring out the motivations, expectations, and experiences of
this study Chinese primary school learners of English, together with those of their
parents. This article focuses on the metaphor data analysis undertaken
(a more recently developed qualitative research method).

Elicited Metaphor Elicited Metaphor Analysis (EMA) is based on studies of metaphors

Analysis by Lakoff (1993) in cognitive linguistics, where research reveals that
metaphors can be conceptual representations of deeper thoughts.
Commonplace metaphorical expressions can be analysed to identify
underlying views if these metaphors are systematically examined
(Jin and Cortazzi 2011). The present EMA method requires informants
to give three key elements:

288 Lixian Jin et al.

 ■■ a ‘target domain’ which is often an abstract topic, for example
‘learning’;
■■ a ‘source domain’ which is a commonly understood concrete image,
compared to the abstract topic, for example ‘a steep hill’ (as in
‘learning English is a steep hill’); and
■■ an ‘entailment’ explaining participants’ reasons for the metaphor, for
example ‘… because I have to make a great effort to climb up the hill’.
The entailment gives the underlying meaning of the metaphor which
goes beyond the basic mapping between the metaphor and the target
domain as ‘metaphors often have clusters of related entailments and
entailments may differ across cultures’ (Jin et al. op.cit.: 18). This study
uses various elicitation methods to obtain the metaphors and entailments
from participants.
This EMA (Jin and Cortazzi op.cit.) has been developed to ascertain

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perceptions about learning, teaching, language, concepts of
dyslexia, curriculum subject learning, and intercultural business
communication in different countries. It was particularly useful
when it was utilized to collect data from primary school learners
with dyslexia in Singapore (Jin et al. ibid.) using cards, picture
stories, games, drawings, etc., when generally there are difficulties
in obtaining qualitative data from young participants, and in
ascertaining learners’ evaluations of their learning experiences
in both cognitive and affective aspects. The entailments helped
the metaphor production and clarified the underlying meanings
enabling researchers to understand learners’ emotions, learning
journeys, reasons, and dreams for learning. The analysis focuses
on the metaphors and entailments produced by participants in
order to identify underlying patterns and themes of targeted
perceptions.

Participants and The participants taking part in the metaphor data collection were
data collection of from four inner-city primary schools. Sample schools cannot
this study represent all features of Chinese primary schools, given the
many potential variables which could be considered, for example
schools in different sized cities and rural areas; or key schools,
state schools, and private schools. The project team focused on
four contrasting city schools with different social and educational
features (see Table 1).
The four schools had similarities and differences in their history,
school size, class sizes, curriculum speciality, and children’s family
backgrounds. Only Year 1 and Year 3 pupils were chosen, since
primary schools in China start teaching English either from Year 1
or Year 3. So the team chose two schools starting English teaching in
Year 1 and two in Year 3, respectively. Pupils’ motivational views were
investigated after one term of EL. Thus the data do not represent all
stages and aspects of their English language development.
Interestingly, the chosen primary schools represent a range of
historically established schools which mirrors many schools in China.
QPJ is from the pre-1949 era, established before communist China

Metaphor analysis of Chinese young learner motivations 289

Schools FJP LJS QPJ WLL
Established 1960s 1980s 1940s 1950s
Participating year/ Y1/aged 7 Y3/aged 9 Y1/aged 7 Y3/aged 9
pupil age
No./(%) of pupils 30 (19%) 30 (23%) 35 (13%) 33 (10%)
participating
Total no. of 1257 (29) 671 (19) 1375 (34) 1780 (36)
students (and
classes) in school
Features and Science and music, Fine arts and Fine arts, music; PE and music,
specialties known in the city technology; small a long tradition known nationally;
and nationally. sized classes of learning and stress on the
(under 35 per practising ‘Go’*; interaction

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class); emphasis emphasis on between school
on personal cultivation of and society and
development. aesthetics and parents.
harmony.
Students’ social 60% pupils are 45% pupils are from 80% pupils are 85% pupils are
backgrounds from well-educated nearby migrant from catchment from catchment
parents in the working families. families in all walks families with
catchment area; 55% pupils from of life. 20% from professional jobs
20% from migrant nearby factory nearby migrant and higher edu-
working families workers’ families, working families. cation. 15% from
nearby; and another parents not highly families of mili-
20% from the educated. tary units, e.g.
non-catchment army hospitals.
area attracted by
the school’s good
reputation.
Note: * ‘Go’ is a board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,500 years ago

table 1
Summary information for
the participating schools

was founded; WLL was set up in the 1950s with a strong promotion of
Chinese socialist ideology; FJP started in the 1960s during the Cultural
Revolution when the domination of the working class was stressed
and education was violently damaged; and LJS was created in the
1980s when China’s open-door economic policy developed. LJS may
represent the most recent wave of Chinese educational and economic
development, as this school has the highest number of migrant
workers’ children and it offers smaller classes for all children, which is
unusual in a city with 10-million residents.
Data collection was given ethical approval by our UK and Chinese
universities, and by local educational authorities, supported by all four
school head teachers and class teachers; all parents of participating
children gave their written consent. Children from the participating
classes were randomly chosen with a consideration of gender balance.

290 Lixian Jin et al.

 Categorizing metaphors-1
60% 56%
50%
40% 32%
30%
20%
figure 1 8%
10% 4%
Pupils’ attitudes 0%
towards EL through Positive Ambivalent Neutral Negative
metaphors

A total of 128 children (65 in Year 1; 63 in Year 3) generated 362

metaphors in Chinese.

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The metaphor elicitation involved pupils in small groups or individually
in a relaxed conversational setting in a classroom. The key procedures
involved were as follows:
1 showing the children what metaphors mean and how to give
their entailment, for example ‘What is your mother like?’ ‘My
mum is like a bee, because she is always busy and works very
hard’;
2 using some games with picture cards, coloured cards, or role
playing to encourage the children’s imagination for metaphor
creation;
3 emphasizing to the children that they should say whatever they liked
in answer to the key question: ‘Why do you want to study English?’
‘What is it like for you in studying English?’; and
4 providing cues: ‘Studying English is (like) … because …’ for children
to produce their metaphors.

Findings from the The research team members transcribed and translated the data
elicited metaphors and categorized the metaphors by identifying naturally occurring
and entailments themes. The following findings present the metaphors based on
learners’ attitudes (Figure 1), types of metaphors created (Figure 2),
and emerging patterns of reasons for learning English through their
entailments for understanding their EL motivation (Figure 3).

Attitudes towards EL Metaphors given by pupils are classified according to both metaphors
through metaphors and entailments into positive, negative, neutral, or ambivalent
metaphors to indicate their attitudes towards EL.

Positive metaphors (Example 1) indicate that participants gain enjoyment

from EL; their experience is pleasant and helpful.

Example 1
Metaphor Entailment
A happy game Because games are a great fun, so is learning
English.

Metaphor analysis of Chinese young learner motivations 291

 Ambivalent metaphors (Example 2) express a dilemma in what EL
means to these pupils; usually they emphasize the complexity of
learning processes and the great effort required to achieve success.

Example 2
The tiger ran into a If the little rabbit made the effort and escaped
little rabbit from the attack of the tiger, it is like being
reborn. However, if the little rabbit cannot
survive the attack, it will be swallowed and stay
in the tiger’s stomach forever.
Pineapple Some teachers start from the easy parts, but
(like eating a pineapple) bitterness comes first
and then the sweetness. Difficult parts should
be learned first then easy ones.

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Neutral metaphors (Example 3) describe factual matters to explain
learners’ views of an EL process or learning objectives.

Example 3
A rainbow A rainbow has many colours just like our
learning. The teacher teaches us how to make a
dialogue (in English). Conversation is like the red
colour. Learning the alphabet is like the orange
colour; playing games is like the yellow colour.

Negative metaphors (Example 4) elucidate learners’ dislike of EL; they

feel it is unpleasant, depressing, or even harmful.

Example 4
Gathering honey Gathering honey is not easy, you have to take
the risk of being stung.
Like flower is dying If the flower is drowned in water, it will die.

Types of metaphors The types are grouped according to the superordinate category of the
created by metaphors given by pupils. There are mainly just seven types of metaphors,
participating pupils among which the category of ‘Food and drink’ has the highest number of
instances. Figure 2 shows the numbers of metaphors for each type.

Categorizing metaphors-2
120 101
100
80 60 50 62
60 25 20 44
40
20
0

figure 2
Different types of
metaphors

292 Lixian Jin et al.

 Movement or travel
Sixty metaphors given by pupils referred to ‘Movement or travel’ (cf.
‘learning is a journey’, Jin and Cortazzi op.cit.), often related to their
emotional preference for EL. They also related to knowledge and
usefulness and indicated the need for skills and effort for EL. Table 2
provides some examples of metaphors from this category.
Food
There were 101 food metaphors given by participants, related to food,
drink, fruit, and vegetables; these revealed learners’ affective reasons
and preferences for EL (see Table 3).

Living things
This group of 62 metaphors referred to animals, birds, people, plants, and
flowers (Table 4). Pupils’ feelings for English emerged through these items.

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Playing or leisure
Fifty metaphors mainly showed pupils’ perceptions of EL and why they
wanted to learn (Table 5).

Nature, household items, and other

Examples of the remaining types of metaphors with their entailments
are given below (Table 6) showing how learners were aware of the
necessity, benefit, and hard work of EL, in addition to their generally
positive feelings for EL.

Metaphor Entailment
A high-speed train Because it can take us to travel in the UK and
USA.
Driving You need to learn English carefully, like driving;
if you are not careful, you will have a ‘crush’, a
car accident.
Running Everyone starts from the same starting line, it is
easy first; then becomes hard.
table 2 Swimming If you don’t learn it well, you will sink and also
Examples of travel and my mum will be happy to see me studying
movement in metaphors English.

Metaphor Entailment
Rice Because people need to eat food; otherwise we
will starve.
Cabbage Because I don’t like eating cabbage.
table 3 Mango Because mango has a unique flavour. It’s sweet
Examples of food and tasty just like English.
metaphors Eating ice cream [I’m] Very happy.

Metaphor analysis of Chinese young learner motivations 293

 Metaphor Entailment
A cat Because English is as cute as a cat.
The little fish The little fish grows up slowly, English is learned
slowly too.
A silkworm A silkworm can produce much silk; English can
table 4 give me a lot of knowledge.
A parrot Because I think that language [English] is very
Examples of creature
adorable.
metaphors

Metaphor Entailment
Dancing English learning is as fun as dancing.
Spring outing When we had a spring outing, Mom said that
mountains are layer upon layer just like learning

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English.
A ball match Because playing ball is like learning [English]. [I]
table 5 learn a lot when I finish playing.
Examples of playing Singing relaxing music Because I feel English is very simple, and it is
metaphors very easy to learn.

Metaphor Entailment
A river Because English words can never be
finished. The water in the river can never
be exhausted.
The sun Learning English is like the sun, because the
sun represents happiness.
An ocean Because the knowledge of English is as deep
and wide as the ocean.
Stairs One can take the stairs step by step ... English
learning is fast. Walking up the stairs step by
step can also be very fast.
Clothes We have to read and listen to English
everyday, just as we must put on clothes
table 6 every day.
Examples of metaphors A book Because it teaches me much more
for the remaining types knowledge.

Interpreting pupils’ Examining the entailments for all the metaphors shows pupils’
perceptions through motivations for English learning (EL) may be interpreted from four
examining the aspects: perceptions of EL processes; affective factors; objectives,
entailment purposes, or goals of EL; and achievable outcomes.
Examples for the perceptions of EL processes can be seen in the
entailments in Table 7 whereas those in Table 8 state the outcomes/
achievements of EL. Examples of entailments which explain the objectives/
purposes of EL are shown in Table 9 and entailments describing the
emotion/feeling of EL are in the following example (Table 10).
The metaphor data can be classified and analysed further, for
example some groups of metaphors reveal that learners are talking

294 Lixian Jin et al.

 Categorizing entailments
60% 49%
50%
40% 32%
30%
20% 12%
7%
10%
0%
figure 3
Patterns of reasons for
learning English through
the entailments of the
metaphors

Metaphor Entailment

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A torrential river
A rock lying in the
middle of the road
Leaves on the tree
table 7
Entailment examples Sushi
for perceptions of EL
processes
Sometimes it [English] is difficult to learn and
blocks your way. However, if you learn it with
a willing heart, you can travel across the river
safely.
If you fail to recognize some English words,
they will become a huge rock blocking your way.
However, you must try to face the difficulty.
Only in this way, can the huge rock be removed.
There are a lot of leaves on the tree. While the
tree is growing, the leaves become more and
more. [In learning English,] the English words
become more and more.
Because the process of making Sushi is very
interesting just like the process of learning
English.

Metaphor Entailment
Cabbages Because cabbages can provide us with nutrients,
just as English learning can provide us with
knowledge.
A fast leopard The leopard runs fast; I make a great progress in
table 8 language learning.
Examples of entailments Swimming If you swim well, you can reach the terminal point
stating outcomes/ very fast. Teacher will praise you for your good
achievements of EL performance.

about the relationship between learning English and themselves

(Table 11). However with limited space, this article will not report
further classifications.

Discussion This exploratory investigation focuses on the use of elicited metaphors

to understand the motivations for EL by Chinese primary school pupils
and to explore what EL means to Chinese young learners and what
attracts them in EL. The data have revealed some characteristics of
what motivates these pupils to learn English at this stage. It is worth

Metaphor analysis of Chinese young learner motivations 295

 Metaphor Entailment
Air Without it, we cannot travel around the world and
become a useful man.
Rain After raining, the earth will be moister. In that
way, being able to use English is very helpful for
my life.
A dialogue The purpose of learning English is to go abroad
table 9 and converse with others.
Examples of entailments The iron taken from While you remember [English], you have to
showing objectives/ the hot stove revise it constantly. Only in this way, can the iron
purposes of EL become a useful object.

Metaphor Entailment

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table 10 An apple Eating it all, bite by bite, very sweet, very happy.
Entailment examples of It’s like playing Every time we learn English, the teacher will
emotions and feelings play games with us.
for EL A panda It is worth cherishing.

Metaphors Entailment
A flower I am like a little bee, collecting knowledge on the
flowers every day.
A sea I am like a dolphin, swimming in the sea.
table 11 Lighter I am like a candle, I never learnt English before;
Examples of other it [lighter] sparks with English knowledge to pass
possible ways of it to me.
classifying metaphors A honeycomb I store the collected knowledge in the
and entailments honeycomb.

stressing that the children were able to give interesting metaphors, and
that such rich metaphor data help researchers to probe a deeper level
of children’s thoughts and feelings. This method appears to be more
revealing than a standard interview format.
Firstly, after six months of EL, pupils showed their enthusiasm of EL with
a high percentage (55 per cent) of positive metaphors and entailments.
They often associated this positive feeling with the food they liked,
for example EL is like eating ‘hamburgers’, ‘noodles’, ‘ice-creams’,
‘watermelons’, or ‘lollipops’ because they ‘like them most’ or ‘taste nice
or sweet’. This affective reason seems to relate to their EL motivation very
strongly, revealed by metaphors and entailments not only referring to
food, but also to travel, nature, or household items (see tables above). This
accords with recent studies (Enever op.cit.) showing that children may
be keen initially, but this may deteriorate later. Further, Y3 pupils have
notably more ambivalent views towards EL, for example 12 per cent of
metaphors produced by Y3 pupils were ambivalent, while only 1 per cent
of Y1 metaphors showed ambivalent attitudes towards EL. Perhaps the Y3
pupils are more dynamic and cognitively mature, more able to reflect on
their learning experiences, and more capable of expressing their thoughts
about possible EL difficulties or barriers; nevertheless they feel able to

296 Lixian Jin et al.

 overcome them. This tendency echoes findings about Chinese university
students’ metaphoric views on learning (Jin and Cortazzi op.cit.): ‘learning
is a journey from hell to heaven’, indicating the awareness of hardship but
retaining a vision of achievement and final success.
The data show that affective factors are important to motivate pupils.
Affect encourages their participation in EL: they have happy and
positive feelings towards learning and the EL social environment, and
receive praise from teachers and parents. This social motivation is a
kind of social network linking with self-efficacy which plays a role in
creating positive motivational contexts.
Appropriate methods ‘scaffold’ (Chaiklin 2003) EL for beginners in
both age groups. Teaching methods provide incentives to learn when
learner-centred activities through games and dialogues are used by
teachers. These young learners perceived that EL was like animation,

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or walking up stairs, or playing games. Some of the reasons given
were:
… there are many things to talk about in English study; it is as
interesting as animated cartoon.
… one can walk up stairs step by step ... English learning is fast, as
walking up stairs step by step can also be very fast.
… in English [class], two students can act out a dialogue; it is like
playing games.
Metaphors of ‘games’ and ‘playing’ are given by learners from all four
schools and are confirmed through our classroom observations. The
image of the EL classroom as a source for fun and happiness obviously
plays an essential role in attracting Chinese EL pupils.
The motivational drive shown in the metaphors also indicates how these
learners are aware of the usefulness of EL as a communication tool and
a means to achieve their learning goals. Among their comments were:
… like an aeroplane, because aeroplanes can take me anywhere, and I
want to study English in other countries.
… because it can take us to travel in the UK, USA.
Many metaphors and entailments express motivation for gaining
knowledge, for example ‘building up [English] knowledge is like playing
with building blocks’. This confirms other research that learning knowledge
is highly ranked in Chinese cultures of learning (Jin and Cortazzi op.cit.).

Conclusion We conclude that the Elicited Metaphor Analysis has achieved its potential;
it arouses learners’ interest and here played a crucial role in ascertaining
the motivational insights of Chinese young learners of English,
complementing other research methods. There are possible pitfalls,
such as a need to improve the elicitation methods, to avoid mis- and
over-interpreting the data, and making stereotyped judgements; further
exploration may concern variables of gender, social, and educational
backgrounds, and cross-checking with other quantitative and qualitative
findings.

Metaphor analysis of Chinese young learner motivations 297

 However, the outcomes of this study help fill gaps in our knowledge
about what motivates these young learners of English; this may assist
with teacher training, developing materials, and curriculum design.
The outcomes—and research process—help to inform primary school
English teachers in China to engage their learners and to enact learner-
centred approaches. The metaphor method itself suggests ways of
interacting imaginatively with learners and our examples may themselves
be used to facilitate talk about EL motivation in other contexts.
Final version received December 2013

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The authors
Lixian Jin is a Chair Professor of Linguistics and
Intercultural Learning at De Montfort University,
UK.
Email: jin@dmu.ac.uk
Xiaohua Liang is an Associate Professor at
Zhongnan University of Economics and Law
(ZUEL), China.
Email: susan64@126.com
Changsheng Jiang is a Lecturer in English at
ZUEL, China.
Email: brucejiangznuel@163.com
Jie Zhang is an Associate Professor of English at
ZUEL, China.
Email: youlanlan@yahoo.com
Yuan Yuan is an Associate Professor of Japanese
at ZUEL, China.
Email: findyuan@gmail.com
Qun Xie is a Professor of English Literature at
ZUEL, China.
Email: serenaxie@126.com

298 Lixian Jin et al.