This classroom-based study investigates how engagement with written corrective feedback (WCF) through the completion of error logs is related to improvements in linguistic accuracy in new pieces of writing. Conducted over eight weeks in a Hong Kong secondary school English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom with 20 student participants, the study involved learners completing error logs after receiving metalinguistic WCF on their written texts. The error logs required learners to record each error and type, their corrections, and explanations for each correction. Using a pre-test, post-test design, the study compared learners' linguistic accuracy before and after the error log intervention, and explored the relationship between accuracy gains and successful error log completion. Learners' attitudes towards using error logs were also assessed through questionnaires and interviews. The findings indicated that linguistic accuracy significantly improved from pre-test to post-test, there was a significant positive correlation between accuracy gains and level of success in explaining corrections, and that learners generally held positive attitudes towards using error logs. The positive perceptions stemmed mainly from learners' recognition that the error logs raised their awareness of common errors and fostered their linguistic development. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier.

This study investigates the differences in pragmatic competence between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland university students. Participants included 19 native speakers of English, 115 Chinese mainland students, divided into those who had spent time abroad in an English-speaking country (CM A) and those who had not (CM NA), and 97 Hong Kong students, divided into those from an English-medium secondary school (Hong Kong EMI) and those from a Chinese-medium school (Hong Kong CMI). Linguistic proficiency was measured by a C-test, and pragmatic competence by a Metapragmatic Knowledge Test, an Irony Test and a Monologic Role Play. Group scores were compared using ANCOVAs to control for differences in proficiency. The results point to a continuum of pragmatic competence-EMI > CMI > CM A > CM NA-reflecting the groups' access to English in real-life contexts. The differences between the Hong Kong groups and the Chinese mainland groups were clearest in those tests measuring processing capacity (i. e., Irony Response Time and the Monologic Role Play). CM A, but not CM NA, performed as well as the Hong Kong groups on measures of metapragmatic awareness. The results are discussed in terms of Bialystok's (1993) distinction between analyzed representation and control of processing. Copyright © 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH.

Dialogue journals are written conversations in which two partners communicate regularly. When practiced between a teacher and student, dialogue journaling has the potential to engage students in writing, and can lead to improved teacher-student rapport. In this "Innovations in Practice" article, we evaluate the use of structured dialogue journals between a student teacher and his English as a Second Language (ESL) students during a seven-week teaching practicum at a local secondary school in Hong Kong. The aim of this practice was for the teacher to engage with students on a personal level, thereby enhancing teacher--student rapport -- an otherwise challenging goal during short-term school placements. The dialogue journals were designed to elicit students' learning experiences, other out-of-class life experiences, and personal interests, which, when reciprocated with teachers' comments, created a dialogic context for improving open and honest teacher-student communication in English. In this practice, a total of 11 rounds of dialogue journals were administered and completed throughout the teaching practicum period. An evaluation of the practice was based on an analysis of the dialogue journal entries, semi-structured interviews with students, and the student teacher's own reflection. Implications of this practice are discussed in terms of the possibilities for ESL/English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to use dialogue journals for enhancing teacher-student rapport. Copyright ©2024 SAGE Publications.

This study investigated the impact of student-selected pairs on emotional engagement and language-learning opportunities generated during collaborative tasks. Sixteen learners of English at a Hong Kong secondary school performed collaborative tasks in two pairing arrangements: student-selected pairing and teacher-assigned pairing (mixed proficiency). Data sources include transcripts of task interactions, a self-selection questionnaire that assessed learners' criteria for selecting a partner, and a post-task emotional engagement questionnaire. The results revealed that learners' choice of partner was primarily based on friendship, and that, compared to the teacher-assigned pairing arrangement, self-selection led to elevated levels of enjoyment. However, neither arrangement had an overall advantage in terms of generating language-related discussions. A qualitative analysis of task interactions revealed that student-selected pairs more frequently used the L1 to elaborate and resolve English language issues, but the friendship nature of these collaborations also led to more frequent off-task discussions, limiting their language learning opportunities. Copyright ©2024 Oxford University Press.

Against the backdrop of internationalisation and growing attention to intercultural experiences in tertiary education, this mixed-methods study examined, in part I, language learning benefits reaped by active participants in intercultural activities. As English is widely used for communication among multilinguals, part II of the study focused specifically on English. We set out to investigate the relationship between individuals' language background (actual and self-perceived English proficiency) and intercultural participation, as well as their views of the formal English language education they received prior to entering universities. The participants (n = 518) recruited from two universities in Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire and 11 of them also attended individual semi-structured interviews. Overall, five categories of benefits emerged from the interview findings, namely psychological benefits, proficiency enhancement, identification of problems, communicative strategies for accommodation, and communicative strategies for expression. A weak positive correlation was found between self-rated English speaking proficiency and participation. The interviewees also commented on the formal English education they received from curricular and environmental perspectives. Copyright ©2023 Routledge.

The present study investigated 69 local Hong Kong English language education students' cross-cultural learning as a result of an Internationalization at Home (IaH) initiative that made use of international students' knowledge of English language education in contexts outside of Hong Kong. An analysis of written responses to open-ended questionnaire items revealed that most students reported acquiring superficial cultural facts related to teaching methods, testing methods, and public versus private education in international contexts; however, some students reflected more deeply on perceived cultural differences by challenging their own prior assumptions about English language education and, as a result, demonstrated cultural humility and enhanced empathy towards teachers in contexts outside of Hong Kong. This research suggests that teacher education programs should consider implementing IaH initiatives that capitalise on international student populations to satisfy program-level cross-cultural learning objectives. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.