The recent decades have seen enthusiastic calls for reconceptualizing English as a foreign language (EFL) education, taking into account the current socio-lingual status of English and how it is used genuinely for communication interculturally and internationally. However, a wide gap still exists between promulgation such as intelligibility over nativelikeness in pronunciation instruction and realities in the EFL classroom. The study investigated pre- and in-service teachers' cognition about accents and the incorporation of different accents in their classrooms. One hundred and sixty-six EFL teachers (89 pre-service and 77 in-service) from Hong Kong and Guangdong (a province in China) completed a questionnaire. Contrary to expectations, the teachers' overall attitude was neutral rather than positive towards General American (GA) / Received Pronunciation (RP)(1) associated with EFL teachers' accents and EFL education. Only two thirds of the teachers were certain about which accents to use and to teach in listening and pronunciation lessons (i.e. as many as one third were uncertain). Also, the participants were neutral about incorporating non-GA/RP accents into EFL lessons, with around one third objecting to doing so. Although no differences were found between pre- and in-service teachers' cognition, additional analysis revealed that teachers' individual background variables, namely teaching experience, self-rated language proficiency, and knowledge of sound systems (IPA for English; pinyin for Mandarin), have significant correlations with their cognition. Copyright ©2021 SAGE Publications.

The present article lies at the intersection of research on teacher cognitions and the rising importance of literary texts in second language learning. It is a qualitative analysis of teacher reports on integrating Language Arts (LA) in the context of New Senior Secondary (NSS) English Language Curriculum in Hong Kong. In particular, this study explores three English teachers’ conceptions of teaching literary texts. Juxtaposing teachers’ views of LA integration and their personal experience of English language learning offers teacher educators a useful lens through which to view the personal practical nature of teacher cognition. It also unveils the factors influencing their conceptions of the place of literary texts in the English Language Curriculum. The results portray teachers as individuals with unique personal characteristics and backgrounds. It is hoped that the study will offer insights into the development of teachers’ personal practical knowledge (PPK) by highlighting their personal learning experience. The study suggests a reconsideration of the relationship between teacher knowledge and belief from various perspectives. Copyright © 2019 Editorial Board TESL - EJ. All rights reserved.

This paper aims to contribute to the theorisation of effective teacher development (TD) provision in a reform context. Based on a literature review, the paper identifies key reform features, i.e., ambiguity and conflict generation, that shape teachers' engagement with pedagogic reforms and suggests a framework for designing TD programmes that address reform-specific needs. It then explores the utility of this heuristic framework through an in-depth case study of implementation of, and perceptions about, eight reforms in two schools in Hong Kong. The case study confirmed that customising the TD provision to perceived reform characteristics could contribute to teachers' positive perceptions of and experience with reforms. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.