In this seminar we will report the results of two series of investigations into the L2 listening performance of Hong Kong university students, and suggest using partial transcription as a tool for helping learners improve their ability to recognise words in connected English speech. In the first part of the talk, Richard will present findings from two sets of studies, carried out in the first case at HKUST and in the second case with PolyU, HKU and CUHK students, which are among the first to specifically focus on the spoken word recognition of L2 listeners. Both used transcription to provide insights into the ability of Hong Kong learners of English to catch words in connected speech (news broadcasts and documentaries). Results showed that learners at Intermediate level had worryingly high levels of difficulty: even with relatively slow speech rates, this group of learners consistently recognised at most only three out of every four of the 1,000 most frequent words of English – making successful comprehension extremely unlikely. The results suggest that the ability to recognise words (especially frequent ones) in connected speech is a vital prerequisite for comprehension and that too little attention is paid to developing spoken word recognition skills in Hong Kong. In the second part of the talk, Fun will look at the use of a novel methodology (partial transcription) for investigating online processing problems in L2 listening and challenge the widely held assumption that L2 listening comprehension is an interactive process. She will discuss 1) some of the processing problems experienced by L2 listeners; 2) why partial transcription could improve listeners' inferencing skills and their perception of both segmental and suprasegmental speech features; and 3) how partial transcription can be devised for classroom and self-access use. Practical considerations such as material, transcription gap selection and learners' proficiency will also be discussed.

In recent years, Outcomes-Based Learning (OBL) is gaining increasing popularity in many parts of the world. Since 2008, OBL has been formally promoted among all higher education institutions in Hong Kong by the University Grants Committee (UGC) of Hong Kong. A key concept of OBL is that teaching should be driven by outcomes that are desirable in students, and that greater clarity in relation to what is to be achieved simply involves adjusting teaching and assessing. This paper reports on an ongoing project on Outcome-Based Learning in the English Department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). First, the development of a set of Programme Learning Outcomes for the Bachelor of Education (English Language) Programme at HKIEd will be introduced. Second, the design of course intended learning outcomes will be discussed. Third, the adjustment of teaching and assessing strategies to align with the learning outcomes will be illustrated in a sample course. It is hoped that this paper will inspire some thoughts on how effective teaching and learning among students in higher education institutions can be achieved through the outcomes-based learning approach.

Ever since Physical Education (PE) became one of electives in the Teacher Education (TE) programme in 1947, it has gradually developed from a practical and professional oriented subject to a theoretical and academic based discipline in the tertiary institutes in Hong Kong. This paper described the 'selected' historical incidents of the development of PETE in Hong Kong. PETE becomes hegemonic towards scientific bias, health-dominated, technocratic and utilitarian-oriented nowadays. It creates tensions of dichotomised issues between PE and sports science; PE and medical science; theoretical and pedagogical orientation; research and practical basis; scholarly and professional discipline; and technocratic and inquiry focus etc. Its development illustrates the differences in directions, status, functions and practices. It intents to identify problems of the present practices and initiate discussion on alternative directions of the PETE in the coming future.
[Copyright of Journal of Physical Education & Recreation (Hong Kong) is the property of Hong Kong Baptist University.]

At the turn of the 21st century, the governments of Hong Kong and Taiwan initiated curriculum reforms, which aimed to expand children's arts experience, develop their generic skills and connect their knowledge in and through the arts. In Taiwan, the arts curriculum adopts an integrated design while in Hong Kong, it adopts an integrative learning approach that connects not only the arts, but also other Key Learning Areas. Working with tertiary institutions, the Taiwanese Government has provided an advisory group and other resources to prepare teachers for an integrated arts curriculum. Although the Hong Kong Government co-organised projects with tertiary institutions and the community, and commissioned a professional development course for primary school teachers, secondary school teachers seemed to be neglected. This paper compares official curriculum frameworks and their implementation, primary textbooks and teacher preparation among the two programmes. Many challenges are identified, and recommendations, such as increased collaboration among stakeholders and research on various integration approaches, are offered. It is hoped that these recommendations will help the successful implementation of the integrative /integrated arts curriculum in both places, as well as other parts of the world.
[Copyright of Asia-Pacific Journal for Arts Education is the property of Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

This study modeled the associations between extrinsic demographic factors and children's speech acquisition in Hong Kong Cantonese. The speech of 937 Cantonese-speaking children aged 2; 4 to 6; 7 in Hong Kong was assessed using a standardized speech test. Demographic information regarding household income, paternal education, maternal education, presence of siblings and having a domestic helper as the main caregiver was collected via parent questionnaires. After controlling for age and sex, higher maternal education and higher household income were significantly associated with better speech skills; however, these variables explained a negligible amount of variance. Paternal education, number of siblings and having a foreign domestic helper did not associate with a child's speech acquisition. Extrinsic factors only exerted minimal influence on children's speech acquisition. A large amount of unexplained variance in speech ability still warrants further research.
[Copyright of Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics is the property of Informa Healthcare. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2013.763385]