The Hong Kong Classroom Environment Scale (HKCES) is a new instrument designed to assess upper primary and junior secondary school students' perceptions of actual and preferred classroom environment. The development of the scale involved 2 stages of study. In the 1st stage of study, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses clearly identified 4 dimensions of classroom environment: teacher involvement, teacher support, order and student involvement and collaborativeness. In the 2nd stage of study, the instrument was administered to a new sample of about 6,000 students from 13 primary schools and 5 secondary schools for cross-validation.
[Copyright of Educational Research & Evaluation is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1076/edre.9.4.317.17813 ]

This paper reports on a large-scale study on learner autonomy in language learning carried out with students and English teachers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. It focuses on the teachers' views of their roles and responsibilities, their assessment of their students' decision-making abilities and the autonomous language learning activities that they have encouraged their students to take up. Generally, teachers perceive themselves to be more responsible for the methodological aspects of language learning, and for motivating their students to be responsible for assessing and evaluating their learning. However, they consider themselves less responsible for their engagement in outside class activities and their progress out of class. The paper will conclude with the pedagogical implications of such findings on the development of learner autonomy at tertiary level in Hong Kong.
[Copyright of Teaching in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1356251032000052311 ]