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PurposeThis study examines the hearing students' attitudes and behaviors towards deaf students in Malaysia using the intergroup contact approach.Design/methodology/approachPurposive sampling was used to recruit 439 hearing students at secondary schools. Hearing students were asked to fill in questionnaires that contained four measurements: contact with deaf people, sources of knowledge about deaf people, attitudes towards deaf people and behaviors toward deaf people. A serial mediation model was proposed to investigate the hypothetical mediating role of knowledge and attitudes toward deaf students in the relationship.FindingsThe results of this study showed that contact frequency is negatively associated with attitudes towards deaf people. However, such a relationship is suppressed, only when knowledge is included as a mediator. In addition, mediation analysis supports that sources of knowledge and attitudes about deaf people mediate the relationship between contact and behaviors toward deaf people. Moreover, the frequency of contact indirectly contributes to behaviors through knowledge and attitudes.Originality/valueThe findings indicate that increasing the contact between hearing and deaf students would improve hearing students' attitudes and behaviors towards deaf students. However, this is only when the contact can improve hearing students' knowledge about deaf people and deafness.

This study in Zhang Village, Muchuan County, Leshan City, China, examines cultural empowerment's role in stimulating rural endogenous development and outlines related development models and pathways. This research uses a multidimensional approach to analyze vital cultural elements in Zhang Village. The study uses Lasso regression analysis to quantitatively assess these cultural components' impact on rural development, supported by a five-year dataset from 2018 to 2022. The analysis incorporates a comprehensive dataset of cultural activities, facilities, industry outputs, and policy implementations in the village. Findings reveal that protecting traditional crafts, harnessing cultural industries' economic potential, and robustly implementing cultural policies are crucial to rural development. Cultural empowerment significantly enhances economic performance and community engagement. This enhancement promotes economic diversification and strengthens social cohesion and cultural identity. The study emphasizes the essential need to develop effective cultural policies that foster an environment conducive to sustainable rural development. It argues that integrating cultural aspects into comprehensive development strategies is critical. The research offers new theoretical insights and practical approaches, contributing to discussions on rural revitalization.

Before Malaysian government liberalising its private tertiary education in the 1996 Education Act, Taiwan was one of the popular choices for students from Chinese Independent Schools (CIS) to further their tertiary education. However, the number of CIS students choosing Taiwan as the destination of their tertiary education keeps hiking up substantially despite more choices of higher education provided locally after the liberalisation. In light of this, this study aims to explore factors affecting country choice of Malaysian students from CIS in the meantime while they were to further their tertiary education. A mixed-method design was employed to investigate factors shaping this peculiar phenomenon. The researchers identified eight push-pull factors from the data coding of a focus group discussion in the first phase of the study. Based on the results, a questionnaire was crafted in the second phase of the study. Then, by engaging a purposive sampling, 869 Senior Three CIS students were recruited from several CIS in different states of Malaysia to participate in the survey at the second phase of the study. The findings revealed the importance of demographic factors administering CIS students in choosing Taiwan as a popular destination of pursuing tertiary education. In addition, the use of Chinese language as the medium of instruction in teaching and financial consideration were the pull factors contributing to the interpretation of the choice made by this group of participants. Furthermore, students' perspective of choosing future career path and their concern of family also determine their choice of higher education. Overall, the study highlighted the importance to include demographic factors in the push-pull model. It further provides factual information for the stakeholders or policy makers to incorporate more effective strategies in recruiting CIS students.