Confucianism and Its Rivals

The Comprehension Hypothesis and its Rivals

The main rivals to the input or comprehension hypothesis are the skill-building and comprehensible output hypotheses. Studies claiming to show that the skill-building hypothesis is correct consist of studies of the impact of grammar instruction and error correction. These studies show only that instruction and correction have a modest impact on tests in which subjects are focused on form. Compr...

The Profession of Medicine and its Rivals

“In the next room you could hear the buzzers sounding. After about 20 minutes you could hear the men shouting for the nurse, “Nurse, nurse”, and it just went on and on. And then very often it would be two people calling at the same time and then you would hear them crying, like shouting “Nurse” louder, and then you would hear them just crying, just sobbing, they would just sob and you just pres...

Confucianism and Democracy

The caning for vandalism last year of American high-school student Michael Fay by the Singaporean authorities underscored the challenge now being put forth by Asian societies to the United States and other Western democracies. The issue was not simply whether Singapore, as a sovereign state, had the right to subject an American expatriate to its laws and legal procedures, but a much more fundam...

Confucianism and the Korean Family

From “Goodness” in Chinese Confucianism to “Truth” in Japanese Confucianism

After being introduced to Japan, part of the basic ethic concepts and value of Chinese Confucianism, which pursues “goodness” as its core value standard, are deep into the hearts of Japanese people and become an impartment part of their moral standard and national mentality. However, due to the inclusive and subjective characteristics of Japanese culture, Chinese Confucianism that pursues “good...