Evaluation
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE
The program was tested on three computers：an IBM compatible Pentium 133 with 32 MB RAM，4 X CD-ROM drive，and Wmdows95；a Pentium 266 with 64 MB RAM，24 X CD-ROM drive，and Windows95；and a Compaq Pentium 233 laptop with 32 MB RAM，16 X CD-ROM，and Windows98.The speed for retrieving information was normal on all of the above platforms and the reviewer encountered no problems in hyperlink information retrieval，except for some missing links（detailed later in this review）.
The reviewer is presently teaching computer-related Chinese business communication courses.Most of the information provided by this CD-ROM is essential and should be very useful for people without much experience with China.The movies help learners to understand how expressions are used in real contexts.
There are a couple of minor alignment problems in the graphic design，an example of which can be seen in the introduction to the program（see Figure 3）.
Figure 3 Introduction to the Program
The interface for text viewing areas also needs to be improved.At present，scrolling is only possible line by line via mouse clicking.Page Up and Page Down functions would help speed up information retrieval.
The software seems to have a bug in the linkage from the button for Protocols for Travelers to its submenus.The reviewer had difficulty accessing subtopics on all test platforms.The other six icons worked properly.
The section on Business Protocols has nine subtopics ranging from Initial Contact to Social Taboos.However，the interface does not allow users to return from any of the submenus to the Business Protocols main menu.Users have to retrace their steps to get back to the main menu.A direct link back to the main menu is needed.
ACTIVITIES（INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH）
As mentioned earlier，the program is designed for people with minimal knowledge of Chinese culture and presents very basic cultural and business information.Users just click on the menu or subtitles to display the content.The program conveys business information in a formal，academic style and does not include mechanisms for users to measure their linguistic competence or to test their understanding of the program's content.
The program relies heavily on photos and graphics to illustrate the topics treated.For example，the graphic in Figure 4 illustrates the seating arrangement for the host and guests at a banquet.
Figure 4 Seating Arrangement Display
Photos of Chinese currency help the users to recognize the different types and value of C hi nese money A map of China shows the location of its capitol and all the provincial cities.Unfortunately，the map does not offer any links to local geographic or cultural information.The inclusion of such information would be a welcome improvement in future versions of the program.
LINGUISTIC ACCURACY
There are some language inaccuracies in the program.Contrary to what is stated in the program's Overview，there are not“at least ten major dialects in Chinese，which are not mutually understandable.”Depending on how one categorizes language variants，six or eight dialects are normally recognized in Chinese.If language variants are categorized into more than ten dialects，some of those dialects will，in fact，be mutually understandable.
The pronunciation help for Chinese written characters should have used Pinyin rather than the type of system used in the CD-ROM.All universities in China，Singapore，as well as all universities in other countries，including those in North America，the UK，Australia，New Zealand，and all European countries，use Pinyin as the standard system for teaching Chinese pronunciation.The authors transcribe“hello”by nee hau rather than ni hao（Pinyin）and“what's your name？”by nee gui skiing rather than ni gui xing.While，as claimed by the authors，these“innovative”pronunciation symbols may make it easy for a westerner to master survival expressions，the system creates a serious problem for anyone wanting to learn more Chinese.The acquisition of additional Chinese expressions will inevitably require considerable relearning in adapting to Pinyin.Likewise，anyone who has already learned Pinyin will be burdened by having to learn the unconventional system used in the CD-ROM.
Some words are not used consistently.In the Dengji-Observing Hierarchy，the symbol for the English word“you”is ni，whereas in the section on Essential Chinese Expressions，the symbol is nee.Also，since the CD does not adopt the old names for all Chinese places（it uses Beijing，not Peking），Guangdong Province should not be written as Canton.Aside from the issue of consistency，there is a good practical reason for not using old anglicized Chinese place names.Anyone traveling to these places（or trying to find information about them）will certainly have trouble doing so.
The program has several misspellings.For example，one district name is referred to as Shannon.There is no such place name in China.The place referred to may be Shandong，but，if so，then the telephone code given for it is not 22，as indicated in the program.The capitol city of Jiangsu is Nanjing rather than Nanjin.Finally，the spelling of the capitol city of Shaanxi Province is Xi'an，not Xi'an.
SOCIO-CULTURAL ACCURACY
The CD-ROM makes some disputable claims.For example，in the section on The Politics，the CD states，“bureaucratic organizations in China tend to compete rather than cooperate.”While this may be true in some departments，it is not a general trend，and such a statement may lead users to make incorrect assumptions.
In the section on Naixin“being patient”in Principles of Business，it is advised that one should be patient when doing business in China.This claim is partly true in the sense that a business visitor does not have many other options.Unfortunately，the program uses an outmoded and misleading example to support its argument.（See the text in Figure 5）.
Figure 5 Naixin‘Being Patient'
To the extent that this cultural feature has any relevance，there are probably more reports these days of daughters-in-law treating their mothers-in-law poorly than vice versa.This example is not an isolated case，and the program would profit from providing a more accurate view of contemporary China.For instance，due to the restructuring of the State Council by the new Premier，central government departments in China now number less than 40 departments，no longer 59 ministries as stated in the section on politics.（The CD-ROM was produced before 1997；China has changed a lot since that time.）
LEARNER FIT（LESSON DESIGN）
The program targets beginners of Chinese languages and culture.In the language section，it adopts a situational approach that uses 18 Chinese utterances in 14 encounters，combined with video recordings.These recordings can be used to practice pronunciation，to recognize written characters from the transcriptions，and to understand how these utterances are used in real communicative contexts.The Chinese utterances are all very short；two of the longest utterances contain only six characters each，one consisting of three words and the other four.The rest of the utterances contain only one to three words each.Given their simplicity，the utterances are obviously intended to be relatively easy to remember and to pronounce.It would appear，however，that the developer of the program did not expect users to pronounce very accurately since tone marks are omitted from words.Since the utterances are the most common types in daily conversation，native speakers will probably be able to guess the intended message.Notwithstanding，the absence of tone marks is a weak point which is bound to create comprehension problems as users attempt to learn additional expressions.Another shortcoming is the limited range of topics covered.A number of basic communication needs are not addressed（e.g.asking for the location of a bank，hotel，toilet，or restaurant）.
Though intended for autonomous learners，the program would lend itself to classroom usage，for example，as part of a course on business and cultural training.In this environment，greater emphasis could be given to correct pronunciation，and a wider range of useful utterances could be introduced.