Acknowledgements:

I would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Guangxi University for their Sending Teachers to Study Abroad Program, which rovided me with the opportunity to study in the United States for two years and finish writing this book, and also supported me to make on-the-spot field research in Singapore and the Philippines, the typical representative countries in the outer circle of the Southeast Asia; both which enabled me to concentrate my mind on reading the literature concerned extensively, writing and publishing a number of journal articles during the research process. My great thanks goes to the professional guidance from Dr. James Collins at the Anthropology Department of Arts & Science College of New York State University at Albany, where I conducted my research project as a senior visiting scholar. My sincere gratitude goes to him in particular for his meticulous scholarship, critical peerreview in providing detailed and helpful comments on Chapter One to Chapter Four of this book when I finished writing in SUNY Albany, and invaluable suggestions on the coverage of this monograph writing, without which, I would not have been able to achieve this research result. I would also like to express my appreciation to Mary, Robert’s mom, a professional English language teacher in Albany, revised Chapter Four of my book when I stayed there for visiting scholar scheme. After the visiting scheme, I came back to Guangxi University and finished writing this book in 2019. Nothing could express my gratitude to two famous scholars domestically and nternationally, who have written preface respectively for my book, one is Dr. Luo Xuanmin, Junwu Chair Professor of Guangxi University, and served as Yunshan Leading Professor of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Asia Scholar Professor of the University of Melbourne, and Director of the Center for Translation and Interdisciplinary Studies of Tsinghua Universality; and the other is Dr. Wang Ning, president of Institute of Arts and Humanities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, professor of Tsinghua University, doctoral supervisor,academician of Latin American Academy of Sciences, distinguished professor of Cheungkong Scholar of Ministry of Education, foreign academician of European Academy of Sciences. I am grateful to Sandra Bruce, a trained linguist in sociolinguistics, has revised and proofread all the chapters of this book, reading through the book paragraph by paragraph, providing valuable advice and suggestion how to improve it in details. Thanks are also due to Dr. Qin Xiugui, professor of Guangxi University of Nationalities, who has read the book for peer review and provided valuable advice for revising. Thanks are also due to my classmates of Dr. Collins’linguistic and cultural anthropology classes for postgraduate students of SUNY, in which I have audited the classes for several semesters, and their active participation in the class discussion and seminars have benefited me greatly and thus encouraged me to make my academic contribution in the class activities. Thanks all of these entire above mentioned, taken together, have contributed substantially to my developing the picture I have drawn in this book.