China's new development model: Analysing Chinese prospects in technology innovation

This article examines China’s innovation strategy as a key part of its economic development policy to achieve the next stage of the country’s domestic market modernization. The news that China now possesses the world’s fastest supercomputer appears to confirm the country’s inexorable journey from the world’s manufacturer and assembly hub to leading global innovator. However, this article presents an examination of broader-based innovation metrics which casts a different light on China’s position, showing that much work still remains to be done in order to lift domestic innovative activity to world-class levels. The country is certainly a challenger, but does not yet appear to have become a leader. The article draws on the latest research data of China’s innovative capabilities and links these to empirical assessments of the country’s information and communications technology sector to illustrate current strengths and weaknesses. In conclusion, it is argued that key inhibitors remain in the context of creating commercially sustainable competitive advantage in science and technology, and that the strengthening of moves towards nationalist innovation strategies may be counterproductive as China embarks on a critical phase of its engagement with the global research and development community. </jats:p

Language Teacher Motivation Research: Its Ends, Means and Future Commitments

This chapter reviews research which highlights the role of language teacher motivation in supporting students’ meaningful engagement in language learning in the classroom and beyond. In addition to providing a brief overview of teacher motivation research, my aim is to focus on those strands of inquiry that have made or promise to make significant inroads into relating what moves teachers to do what they do with the educational consequences for their students. I will argue that in order to advance research that is relevant to the lives of language teachers and students, the future language teacher motivation research might find inspiration from transdisciplinary orientations to conceptualising the subject as well as the method of inquiry. I outline some possibilities for advancing future research agendas along these lines