A professional teaching development programme was established to equip multicultural teaching assistants (MTA) with skills and knowledge to teach non-Chinese speaking (NCS) preschoolers in Hong Kong. To evaluate if MTAs are perceived to be able to perform their intended roles (support Chinese and overall learning, provide pastoral support, bridge the communication between NCS parents and kindergartens, and promote social integration), questionnaires were collected from 18 principals and 74 teachers. To assess if the programme can equip MTAs with necessary skills for the planned roles, questionnaires were collected from 39 MTAs, and a focus group interview with 8 MTAs was also conducted. Results showed that principals and teachers were satisfied with MTAs' performances in supporting NCS students' learning. Moreover, the majority of MTAs agreed that the training programme helped them to perform their intended roles in preschools. Most modules taught in the training programme, apart from one exception, were well received by MTAs. The focus group interview revealed that MTAs were satisfied with the programme, though they preferred more training on Chinese writing skills and knowledge in dealing behavioral issues of children. The study shows the possibility of integrating MTAs into multicultural classrooms in Hong Kong to facilitate NCS children's learning. Copyright © 2021 Academy Publication Co., Ltd.

Ever since the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China on 1 July 1997, policy makers in Hong Kong have instituted a series of de-colonising language policies, notably Mother Tongue Education (Education Department, 1997. Medium of instruction guidance for secondary schools. Retrieved from https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr97-98/english/panels/ed/papers/ed1508-6.htm.) which emphasises the importance of the Chinese language in rebranding the city as a cosmopolitan bilingual city in Asia. One unintended consequence is that linguistically and culturally diverse pupils in the system are struggling to learning Chinese as an additional language (CAL). Against the backdrop of existing CAL policies which promote decentralisation and school-based curricula, this exploratory paper aims at examining the extent to which the language planning context has facilitated and constrained CAL teachers’ agency in Hong Kong secondary schools. Based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 10 CAL teachers purposively recruited from three local secondary schools, this study finds that certain features of the language planning contexts have constrained and transformed teacher agency in ways that lead to what Cummins’s (2000. Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.) refers to as ‘the narrowing of the curriculum brought about by teaching to the test’ (p.248). The resultant emphasis on the short-term CAL goals, as manifested by this maximum-variation sample of teachers, is discussed with attention to how teacher agency is ecologically achieved and claimed, and a call for restructuring existing CAL policies to attend more to the mediating impact of the ecology on teacher agency, and to purposively channel teachers’ agentive action towards the long-term goal of mainstreaming. In doing so, CAL teachers can truly be ecologically set up as agentive language planners in the face of increasing

• Writing motives was assessed using Writing Motivation Questionnaire. • Writing self-efficacy was assessed using a revised Writing Self-efficacy Scale. • Measurement invariance was established across Shanghai and Hong Kong students. • Latent means comparison found differences between these two groups. • A direct-mediational model examined the relationship between these constructs. What motivates Chinese students to write? In the present investigation, we examined Chinese students' writing motives and writing self-efficacy. Grades 4 and 5 Chinese students in Shanghai (n = 332) and Hong Kong (n = 305) completed a survey questionnaire assessing motives for writing using the Writing Motivation Questionnaire and writing self-efficacy based on a revised Writing Self-efficacy Scale. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses, measurement invariance was established by examining configural, metric, scalar and residual invariance. Latent means comparison located significant differences between the Chinese groups in relation to writing self-efficacy and writing motives derived from a focus on curiosity, competition and grades. Multigroup structural equation analyses verified a hypothesized direct-mediational model depicting the relationship between writing motives and writing self-efficacy. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier.

隨著世界“漢語熱”和漢語的國際推廣，對外漢語教學各方面取得顯著進步，但漢字教學整體方面還相對薄弱。筆者認為，這與漢字的性質有關。對外漢語的漢字教學，可以從解決漢字與拼音文字的性質差異著手，針對不同程度的學生，設計相對應的教學活動和遊戲，可以幫助提高學生漢字學習的興趣和提升學習動機。漢語漢字是世界三大古典文字之一，屬於獨立形成的文字體系，即兼用意符和聲符的文字。這對於單純使用音符的拼音文字為母語的學生而言，具有很大的學習難度。漢語作為第二語言的教學和學習，既包括了口頭語的教與學，也包括了書面語的教與學。漢語書面語的教與學，自然離不開語言的書寫系統，也就是漢字教學。因此，漢字教學在對外漢語教學中佔據重要地位，同時一直被認為是漢語國際教學中的難點，學生學習的動機不強，學習興趣也不高。本研究以香港及深圳共三所不同背景的國際學校為對象，根據不同中文程度的學生，設計相對應的漢字學習遊戲，讓學生在遊戲中學習，通過參與遊戲的學生進行投票，統計分析學生最感興趣的漢字學習遊戲，並且結合國際學校教師的訪談和反饋，得出提高學習動機的漢字識字教學方法。希望能夠通過本研究，為國際學校漢語教師提供針對不同學習背景及不同中文程度的學生，學習漢字的有效途徑和方法，提升實際教學中，學生學習漢字的興趣和動機。 Copyright © 2019 國際漢語教學研討會.

閱讀是一種重要的語言技能，幼兒從小透過閱讀，將來就能學會寫作、認識詞彙、學習語法和句式，並能朗讀詩歌。早期的閱讀能為幼兒以後的學習活動打下良好的基礎，但幼兒因受限於本身識字與生活經驗，所以圖畫故事書就是最好的媒介引發幼兒閱讀的興趣，使他們從有趣的圖畫故事書中認識不同的詞彙、各種語法和句式技能，培養他們的閱讀理解能力有更好的基礎。本研究旨在探討香港一所幼稚園以「交互教學法」的策略來說故事，提升幼兒的閱讀理解能力。是次研究，共 32 位 5 至 6 歲幼稚園高班的幼兒參與，隨機將幼兒分為實驗組及控制組，分前測、實驗教學及後測三個階段進行，再就所得資料做質性和量化的分析，對幼兒在「交互教學策略」的閱讀能力表現作評估、討論和分析。結果顯示，經過「交互教學法」的閱讀策略說故事後，實驗組閱讀理解能力比控制組為佳。根據實驗教學的結果，找出如何以圖書故事為教材並運用交互教學策略進行活動，來幫助香港幼稚園教師實踐交互教學以提升幼兒的閱讀能力。 Copyright © 2019 國際漢語教學研討會.