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]

Reading comprehension can be seen as a process dependent on the interaction of 'topdown' and 'bottom-up' processes. An important, but neglected, feature of this process concerns the effects of rhetorical organization. This article describes an experiment in which four rhetorically different texts, with identical subject matter, were read by 490 Hong Kong Chinese school children (mean age 14.1), studying in English (their L2). Comprehension was measured by a cloze procedure and by recall protocols. One way ANOVA was used to investigate the effects of different texts on the test scores. The results showed a clear difference in comprehension between the text types and suggest that pedagogical support to increase awareness of rhetorical patterns would be beneficial.
[Copyright of Reading in a Foreign Language is the property of Meena Singhal & John I. Liontas.
Access via Directory of Open Access Journals: http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/]

*The author reports that the use of cohesive conjunctions by Hong Kong student writers is contrasted with the use by native speakers and that the impact of teaching, textbooks and transfer on Hong Kong students, and the level of misuse and unnecessary use by Hong Kong students are studied.

*It is reported that the attitudes towards employing process writing of Hong Kong secondary English teachers were studied and that teachers are found to be assisted by being provided with suitable materials and support.

In the paper, a hypertext database "Focus on Writing" assisting Hong Kong secondary English language teachers in teaching continuous writing is introduced, and the objective of the innovative design is discussed.

A model that focuses on the joint interactive nature of writing and reading is suggested by the author to increase the effectiveness in teaching English academic writing to English as a Second Language students.

This paper reviews the writing difficulties of postgraduate student registering in the nine faculties of the University of Hong Kong in 1994-95. Some remediation strategies are then suggested.

*In examining a process-oriented approach in the teaching of composition in English as a Second Language classes, both students' and teachers' responses were recorded by the author. Further, factors that may lead to the successful implementation of curricular innovation are discussed.

The author investigates the impacts of mediating tasks on summary writing activities for tertiary-level students who are taught through English as a medium of instruction. A group discussion or a reading comprehension exercise, with immediate access to the text and summary instruction with no mediating activity, was involved.