We examined the associations between home literacy environment (HLE) and children's word reading in L1 Cantonese and L2 English and whether the associations were moderated by other child- and family-related factors (children's grade level, reading interest, and family socioeconomic status [SES]) in Hong Kong Chinese families. Participants were 190 children (Mage = 86.05 months; 54.7% female) in Grades 1 and 2, and they were tested on their word reading skills (accuracy and fluency) in L1 Cantonese and L2 English. One corresponding parent of each child responded to a questionnaire assessing two aspects of HLE (parent teaching and access to literacy resources), family SES, and their child's reading interest. Results showed that access to literacy resources was associated with L2 English reading but not L1 Cantonese reading, regardless of grade level, parent-rated reading interest, or SES. In addition, whereas parent teaching was positively associated with L2 English reading in Grade 1, it was negatively associated with L2 English reading in Grade 2. These results suggest that whereas access to literacy resources may be positively associated with L2 English reading across different family contexts, the role of parent teaching in L2 English reading may change during this developmental period. Copyright © 2024 Springer.

While extensive quantitative research has shed light on the cognitive mechanisms of dyslexia, few mixed-methods studies have been conducted to examine the perceptions of and attitudes towards learning in children with dyslexia, especially in Hong Kong, a bilingual context. In addition, the validity of the metaphor elicitation technique, which was adopted in previous interview studies, has not yet been examined in children. Therefore, 30 children with dyslexia (age range: 8–13; 10 females) in Hong Kong were interviewed for metaphors regarding six domains: Chinese reading, Chinese writing, having Chinese lessons, English reading, solving maths problems, and dyslexia. Word reading fluency and parent-rated learning interest and confidence were measured to validate the use of the metaphor elicitation method in assessing children’s reading attitudes in both Chinese and English using correlation analyses. Perceptions were examined by way of qualitative analyses based on the metaphor entailments. Results showed that children who expressed more positive attitudes towards English reading performed better in English reading. Moreover, the attitudes also positively correlated with the corresponding parents’ ratings. These findings suggested that the metaphor elicitation technique is a valid method for assessing attitudes towards English reading in children with dyslexia. Furthermore, their perceptions of dyslexia and learning generally corresponded to those from previous interview studies despite differences in languages and contexts. Importantly, descriptions related to multiple themes, including metalinguistic awareness, cognitive skills, coping strategies, and dyslexia, were well-aligned with scientific findings, demonstrating that children already have a good understanding of dyslexia and various learning domains. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

Co-teaching provides opportunities for children that cannot be produced by a solo teacher. However, building relationships between co-teachers, particularly in a cross-cultural setting, can be difficult. This study of early years teachers in a Hong Kong international school aims to consider the elements that facilitate a strong and productive co-teaching relationship and challenges that teaching teams encounter. The study utilizes qualitative interviews of 26 teachers to capture teachers’ perceptions of co-teaching. Findings suggest, that while teachers valued their relationships, the building and maintenance of a productive co-teaching relationship takes work, flexibility, and an openness to the perspectives of one’s partner. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier.

In a two-year longitudinal study we examined if and how syntactic awareness in L1 Chinese influenced reading comprehension in L2 English, a typologically different script. Participants were 401 Chinese-English bilingual children from Hong Kong. We assessed their word order, morphosyntactic, and reading comprehension skills in L1 Chinese and L2 English, and retested them after one year. Results showed that L1 syntactic awareness cross-linguistically predicted L2 reading comprehension over time; this prospective relationship was mediated by L2 syntactic awareness but not L1 reading comprehension. Moreover, similarity in syntactic structure was important in determining the degree of transfer. The comparable word-order structure between L1 and L2, thus less syntactic distance, rendered word order awareness more transferable than morphosyntactic awareness. Our findings suggest that teachers may evoke L1 syntactic features and map them onto L2 corresponding structures to facilitate reading comprehension in L2. Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.