This paper considers issues in customising descriptions of English grammar in the context of creating an electronic database for secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. In developing the database, we have aimed to incorporate insights from functional grammar and corpus linguistics while keeping the information accessible and relevant to teachers familiar only with traditional approaches to grammar. This has involved exploiting the advantages of hypertext, explicitly foregrounding pedagogical concerns and developing a metalanguage that will allow discussion of areas such as transitivity and theme without alienating the teacher-users. We illustrate the kinds of compromises that are necessary in order to match the linguistic information to the needs and existing knowledge of the teacher-users.
[Copyright of Language Awareness is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658410008667134]

A model of bilingual classroom discourse is presented as a set of communicational frames illustrated by data from secondary English classes in Hong Kong. The 'innermost' frame, where the second language, English, is most likely to occur, is that in which the lesson is conducted. Linked to this lesson frame is a lesson-support frame which functions to structure communication and behaviour. The teacher is the main participant in this frame, though students may also participate. Institutional messages which are not directly related to communication in the lesson frame are conveyed in an institutional support frame characterised by primary use of the mother tongue rather than the second language. The 'outermost' frame is that in which non-lesson talk occurs, generally in the mother tongue. This commentary frame may be exploited by students to develop a counter-discourse in opposition to the institutional agenda and other sorts of new discourses. The discussion addresses the difficulty faced by teachers in second language contexts in trying to encourage communication and participation in a way which does not marginalise the second language. It also suggests similarities and differences in students' off-lesson talk in other bilingual and non-bilingual school contexts.
[Copyright of International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670059908666246]

Academics are increasingly expected to be research productive. An impressive research output requires the ability to communicate in sophisticated written English in order to ensure that a publication is of an acceptable standard. In response to the demands for advanced writing skills to maintain high standards in research publications, a pilot online writing network of information (OWN) has been developed to provide academics in the School of Nursing at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with research writing support in English. In this paper the OWN database is introduced with an explanation of the theoretical foundations and the needs analysis that shaped each link. Then, with data from two questionnaires completed by the users and interview of four users, I present a user evaluation of OWN. The questionnaires suggest that users see certain links as more useful in providing individualised writing support, while the interviewees most appreciate the complete privacy in which support could be sought. Through this description and user evaluation, I argue that academics could benefit from English language support when writing for publication, and computer technology may offer both flexibility and privacy.
[Copyright of Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602930301679]

Internationally, English is increasingly being adopted as the language of postsecondary education. In Asia however efforts by universities to promote the use of the English language both inside and outside the classroom may be threatened by the supposed reticence of Asian learners. This paper problematizes Chinese learners alleged reticence by examining how one group of undergraduates at an English medium of instruction university in Hong Kong were able to meet the demands placed upon them for participation in spoken activities within their English for academic purposes classroom. Interviews with students and teachers, classroom observations, audiovisual recordings of classroom interaction and documentary analysis were used to understand how students participated in classroom discussion. The results suggest that learners adopted particular oral roles and drew upon a range of resources in ways that enabled them to conceptualize participation in classroom discussion as, in part, the result of learner agency. Implications for classroom practices in content classrooms traditionally dominated by a transmission mode of teaching are discussed.
[Copyright of Asian EFL Journal is the property of Nanzan University.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/]

While assessment and its effects on learning such as 'washback' have been the subject of much debate (e.g. Alderson & Wall, 1993; Bachman, 1995: 356; Alderson & Hamp Lyons, 1996; Shohamy et al, 1996; Andrews et al, 2002), assessment as a tool for developmental, not merely evaluative, purposes has probably not received sufficient attention (e.g. Dickinson, 1996: 101; Gardner, 1999). Of interest to this study is a project by Dickinson (1996: 106) in which participants (tutors and learners) are shown to have benefited from a scheme of collaborative assessment.
[Copyright of Language Learning Journal is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09571730585200161]

Grading, feedback, and reporting of student achievement are key elements that support learning. This article reports an interview study on a range of English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers' classroom assessment practices at the tertiary level in Canada, Hong Kong, and China. The interviews focused on teachers' use of marking criteria, student involvement in classroom assessment decisions and activities, and reporting procedures. The results demonstrate how these teachers make day-to-day decisions in these three contexts, thus adding to our understanding of ESL/EFL classroom assessment practices.
[Copyright of Language Assessment Quarterly is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15434300701348409]

This article reports on an action research project on ways and means of promoting learner autonomy in an ESL classroom. It focuses on the implementation of an autonomy-based English program with a group of first-year university students at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The context and objective of this autonomy-based program are presented, classroom procedures and group learning tasks are described, and suggestions are provided for teachers to adapt these procedures and tasks to suit the needs of their particular students.
[Copyright of TESL Canada Journal is the property of TESL Canada.
Access via Publisher's e-Journal: http://www.teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl/issue/archive]